Russian Blader
by Edragore
Summary: Kiko Wieler joined the Blitzkriegboys, and entered the BBA tournament. Will love be in store for them, or will they die before that? TalaOC Bryan OC KaiOC RayOC Will Tala mend his relationship with Kiko before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Beyblade, it was made by Takao Aoki sensei. Kiko Wieler is my own character, so please do not copy her! Thank you, and please read on (it may be boring now, but I promise it will get better! Please, please continue reading it!). I also do not own the Blitzkriegboys!

Chapter 1: Russian Travel

My name is Kiko Wieler; I have dark brown medium length hair that's down to the middle of my back, icy blue eyes, I'm 5'6 and my parents don't talk to me anymore. I moved away from them because, my mother got married to some guy that I never liked, and now have 6 older brothers. I originally come from Canada; and know a wide range of languages. I moved away to Russia, as I know that my family would never follow me there. I hate this world and many of the people in it; I'm going to get a job and hope that no one tries to talk to me and doesn't recognize me from my beyblading carrier; I quite beyblading and hope to never get in that business again.

Sighing as I looked out of the frosty window to stare at the cold climate below me. I was going to stay here from now on; no family, no friends, no problems. I closed my icy blue eyes again, and waited calmly for the plane to land. Russia; my new home, but the only question was, where was I going to find work? 'it doesn't matter, I'll deal with it later, I have to worry over where I'm going to live right now.' I opened my icy blue eyes once more as the person in the loudspeaker yelled out that we were landing in a few short minutes; and she said this in Russian. I awaited the impact of the wheels of the plane touching the surface of the cold run-way below.

The plane came to a stop and slowly they started opening the doors to the plane. I waited for a few moments to let the crowd disperse a little; I really hate crowds. I got up quickly, and made my way through the thick crowd in front of me. Some of the people looked at me and tried to get out of my way; I tend to have that affect on people. Eventually, I came out of the crowd, and down the stairs of the plane to the icy cement at the bottom. An icy cold breeze brushed against me, the wind caused my black trench coat to rise up behind me, giving everyone else an eerie feeling about me. I continued along the icy cement way, and headed to the main port of the airport. The crowd was merciless as I made my way through the thick crowd. Things said in Russian could be heard overhead; I ignored them. I walked over to where the luggage disposal was, and waited to retrieve me bag.

I found it and took it by the black leather straps that held it up. I then turned around, and walked quickly towards the glass doors. My black trench coat flailed around my legs, my dark brown hair moving with my body as I walked. My black and silver iron toed shoes clambered on the marble floors. I closed my eyes and ignored the stares I got from the passing people that I walked by.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Looking Around

I thrust open the glass doors and was greeted by an icy cold breeze. I shuddered slightly, and sighed, and then continued on my way. People in heavy jackets of various colors glanced at me as I walked on by. In a few short hours of walking in complete ignorance, I came across a good sized restaurant. It wasn't too fancy looking, but not a dump like a fast food restaurant. I shrugged my shoulders, and walked towards it; a cold icy stare fixed on my face. 'It's better then nothing, and I have worked in places like these before, so it won't be such a shock. I think I can learn the Russian language quickly, well at least the written language.' I opened the doors, and walked straight to the brown counter towards the back of the building. 'And maybe they can help me find a home or something.' I got to the brown marble counter, and leaned against it; waiting for someone to notice me. A guy dressed in a black and white uniform came towards me from behind the counter, and said in Russian, "what can I do for you miss?" I stared at him with a blank look upon my face. 'I know how to speak Russian, but he's talking too fast, I don't understand!' I lowered my head, and thought about it for a while. I lifted my head again after a few minutes. My icy glare pasted upon my face. My body was ridged as I glared at him with an indifferent look. The guy looked uneasy and repeated what he said before. 'I don't understand!' My glare grew even more cold and heartless, and I shook a little out of rage upon myself. The guy' looked as if he were too scared to move, he shook more noticeable then I, and his grey eyes were wide with terror. My mind was focussed on hatred, no longer did I hear what was going on in my surroundings.

Suddenly, a fist slammed onto the brown marbled counter. The fist was covered in black fingerless gloves, with metal skinny rectangles on it's knuckles, and two metal plates on it's hand. I snapped out of my comatose state, and looked up at the owner of the fist. My icy blue eyes didn't show any warmness, I recognized the man; it was Tala Valkov of the Russian beyblade team; the Blitzkrieg Boys. He stared across at the man behind the marble counter, and replied in Russian "Table for four." His cold, emotionless voice cut through the air like a knife. The man nodded quickly, and he glanced at me with more fear now then before. Tala looked down at me with icy blue eyes. I glanced behind him, and saw three other boys; Ian, a short boy, with navy hair and a scowl on his face, he had a big nose, and worse a brown baggy shirt with black and green overalls, he had grey gloves on the stretched to his elbow.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three: The Infamous Russians

Another boy, Bryan, was taller than Tala, and had grey, short messy hair. He wore a burgundy and white jacket with fur on the collar and the shoulders. He had black straps on his arms, one on each arm. He had navy, fingerless gloves that came from the upper part of his lower arm, they had silver studs on the knuckles, and a metal plate on the hand. He had on an orange shirt underneath as his jacket was left open. He had on a navy belt with a silver clasp in the middle. He wore burgundy, baggy pants that were tucked into his boots. His boots had fur on the top of them, and were navy with a silver strap across the middle of his foot, and at the end of his shoes was a metal part that formed the end of his shoes.

The tallest one, Spencer, had brown hair that stuck up due to his forest green headband that had straps going down to his chin. He had a light brown jacket on, with a white thick lining on it. His jacket was left open revealing a black shirt with an orange square at the bottom of it. He had a black belt with a silver square clasp on it. His navy, baggy pants were tucked into his black boots. At the top of his boots where two black straps that went across his shins, they were attached to his shoes by silver buckles. He had a silver rectangle across his foot, and a silver end like Bryan's.

Tala had dark red hair, and sometimes it was fiery red. He had an orange and white jumpsuit that could be separated at the middle. The top part was a turtle neck. He has navy straps on his shoulders, and across his chest. On his left breast pocket he has the symbol 'BB'. He had a navy belt to separate his top from his bottom, and it had a silver clasp in the middle of it. At his shins, his pants where orange with navy straps across them. He had his pants over his shoes; his shoes were navy, with a silver strap coming from the back of his ankle, and up to the top of his foot. He also had the same silver part on the end of his shoes like the rest of them. Both him and Spencer had navy straps coming down from their belts and were attached by a silver clasp, they held up their guns.

The others seemed to ignore me, or if they did see me, they didn't show it. They all had an emotionless stare, and waited for orders from their leader, Tala. I locked my gaze back on Tala, and stared at him with cold, icy blue eyes. He said something in Russian to me, or at least I think it was me, he was looking at me as he said it. 'Is he talking to me? I can't understand him, he needs to say it slowly!' I shifted in my stance to lean on my other leg, and didn't remove my gaze on him. He repeated what he said, only a little bit slower to me, and this time, I understood!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four: A Surprising Turn of Events

"Why are you here?" He said in a cold voice.

"I don't have to answer that!." I replied slowly in Russian, making sure that I got every word correct. He raised an eyebrow slightly as I said it slowly to him in my semi-cold voice. He stared at me for a while, and the man behind the brown marble counter waited with fear written all over his face. Just then, my stomach growled loudly, 'oh crap! I haven't eaten anything at all today, I'm starving! And I'm going to starve unless I get a job quickly!' I thought. And I hoped that they couldn't hear it. I looked down for a moment, and looked back up to see all of the Blitzkrieg Boys staring at me. 'Why are they staring at me?'

Tala raised an eyebrow again, and Ian stopped scowling. Tala sighed, and closed his icy blue eyes. I grew ridged and uncomfortable as they stared at me calmly. I crossed my arms across my chest, and stood there blankly. "When did you last eat, girl?" Tala said coldly in Russian. I looked at him with a surprise in my icy blue eyes. 'Is he talking to me again?' He opened his eyes and looked at me coldly. "Yes you! When did you last eat?" He said to me in Russian. 'I don't understand what he's saying, he's talking too fast again!' He sighed to himself, and repeated what he said slower this time. 'Why is he asking me this?'

"Not since yesterday morning, at 4:00 am" I replied while closing my icy blue eyes. Tala turned to the counter and the man again, and shook his head slowly.

"Make that, a table for five." He said slowly in Russian.

I opened my icy blue eyes with surprise written all over my face. 'Five? What?' "You're eating with us, girl." Tala said to me slowly in Russian. I nodded slowly to him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: When Russians Know Your Name

"Starving yourself when you're that weight is bad, we're doing you a favour!" said Ian slowly in Russian; apparently he got the message. I looked down at him, and nodded again. The man at the counter left, and quickly came back again, he said something quickly, and led us towards our table. 'It's weird to be sitting with them, and somewhat relieving.' Tala sat down and made eye contact with me saying to sit down as well. I quickly sat beside him and Spencer. I felt so short, and out of place seeing as I was the only girl there. They picked up the menu's and started reading them in complete silence. The restaurant was empty, and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. 'I can't read Russian!' I thought as I picked up the menu calmly. 'I've eaten Russian food, but never ordered it for myself, my brother did.' I felt like dying, I felt so out of place here.

Tala sighed, and put the menu down calmly. He glanced at me, and said in English, "you can't read the language, can you?" His voice sounded irritated and annoyed. My eyes grew wide, and I put the menu down. I looked at him calmly, and nodded slowly. "You can speak Russian, but not very well, your grammar was all wrong."

"Yeah, I was taking a course online that was teaching me it, but I stopped when I left." I replied in English.

"From Canada, correct?" He said while staring at the table calmly. I nodded slowly.

"How do you know that?" My voice was edged with nervousness.

"You're bio is interesting." Bryan said calmly while putting the menu down. 'what bio?' My confused look said my thoughts, and they ignored it completely.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six: What They Knew, and What I Didn't

How do they know me? I barely know them! I, I don't understand, why would they do all of this for me? It's not like them, I know that for sure. I know that they're supposed to be cold, and emotionless,; and yet, here they are, buying me dinner, and saying that my grammar was wrong! But, they're talking to me; so not like them! They took the time to read my bio; I didn't even know I had a bio! This is too creepy, maybe I should get out of here, but how? And, how am I going to get a job?' As I was lost in my thoughts; my own world, the Blitzkriegboys were busy deciding on what they were to eat. Ian glanced up at me from his maroon menu. His dark brown eyes weren't as cold as they usually are; but I never noticed due to my absentmindedness. "Do you even know what we're talking about, miss?" Ian said to me in slow Russian calmly. Everyone looked up, and waited for my answer. I snapped out of my comatose state of mind, and stared across at him with my clear icy blue eyes.

I shook my head quickly after thinking about what to say; I didn't want to offend them or anything, and my grammar was pretty bad. "I do not know what you are talking about. I have no knowledge of any bio on myself. Could you please explain how you guys know about it, but that I do not." I replied slowly in English; looking for the right words sometimes takes a little while to find. Ian's dark brown eyes didn't show any hint of coldness, and that fact slightly scared me; I'm used to seeing them cold-hearted, horrid, rough, outlandish, and rash, this new kind side to them frightened me. My eyes changed color to a sea blue color. They noticed fairly quickly ( I was told that they were very observational, but I didn't expect them to be that observational!). Tala sighed, and closed his icy blue eyes; I guess they got that look before many times to know what it meant. He opened his eyes again after a few silent awkward minutes. He picked up his fork, and put it on the opposite side of his white shiny plate in front of him. He looked up at me with his vibrant icy blue eyes, and kept that calm, emotionless gaze upon me.

"We know who you are, and what you used to do before you quite. We also know you're new last name, and what great power you posses. We know this from studying your bio from the Abbey; where we were raised and trained in the art of beyblading." He gave me a look that signified if I was sated yet or not, I shook my head in response to it. He gave another sigh, and closed his icy blue eyes once more, and continued talking in a calm voice with a Russian accent, "we have information about many of the powerful Beybladers in the world that ever made it to their countries' finals in their tournaments'. You, happen to be one of the few that won a tournament in their country."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven: A Notion of Knowledge

His voice echoed in my mind. 'You happen to be one of the few that won a tournament in their country'. I didn't say anything, and waited for him to continue. "The only difference with you, the only reason why you are so well remembered by us, and looked at at the Abbey, is because you won the Canadian tournament 3 times in a row. Not many people can do that so, Boris, the man who trained us in beyblading, he made sure that we studied your bio a lot, to the point of memorizing every little bit of it. But, now that we are no longer in the Abbey, we have no current information about you at our hands." I nodded slowly, satisfied at his answer. He opened his icy blue eyes, and locked his gaze on me. I looked back at him, with my icy blue gaze as well. 'Why is he staring at me?'

"Another reason why Boris wanted us to memorize you, was because of the way that you battled. It is very unique and powerful." Spencer said quietly in a heavy Russian accent. I switched my look to him, and kept it there for a few minutes, until he glared at me, meaning me to not stare anymore. 'My unique style of beyblading? What is that supposed to mean? My friends, my opponents, no one new or saw my bit-beast, so how could they saw that my style was different?' My eyes changed color to a sea blue again as confusion over took me once more. They noticed this again, and Tala sighed deeply. He closed his icy blue eyes, and said nothing to answer my confusion. I slowly picked up my glass of water in front of me and began to drink.

"Boris, he taped your battles, he has video cameras in all Beystadiums to see which ones were powerful enemies. He showed us all of your tapes, and we did see in the final battles of all of your tournaments, that the reason why you were so quick to end them, was because you have a powerful bit beast." My eyes widened as Bryan told me this. 'They saw my bit beast? How? Not even my friends could! But these boys, these people that I've never met before saw and know about my bit beast!' This little bit of information made me slightly nervous, and surprised at the same time. The surprise took over more so in my emotions. I spat out the water that was in my mouth, and started to choke on the water in my throat. The water was spat out on Bryan, making him all wet. My eyes widened more, and I started to blush a little. 'Oh crap! What did I just do? This is so bad, what am I going to do? He's going to hate me now!'


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight: The Surpises Just Keep Comming

Bryan stared at me with water dripping from his nose, hair, and chin. He was completely soaked! I started to blush lightly, what will he think of me now? "I…I'm sorry, Bryan sama! I didn't mean to," He raised his hand quietly to show that he didn't want me to say anything. He calmly picked up with white napkin that held his silverware, and began to dry himself off. I shifted uncomfortably in my burgundy chair. 'is he mad at me? I don't blame him if he is; but it's his fault for saying that when I was drinking!' I waited in an awkward silence, waiting for him to say something, anything! Even if he was swearing at me! Anything would do, just not the silent treatment, I cannot stand that! I watched him intently with fear showing slightly in my ice blue eyes. He seemed to notice as he looked back up at me, still damp from the water.

His grey eyes were stormy, and had a little bit of rage in them. I grew even more unsteady as he stared at me with those eyes. Tala gave him a glance, and returned his gaze back to his white plate in front of him. Bryan sighed, and he seemed to calm down somewhat. "What was that for?" He said in his strong Russian accent, with a slight twinge of annoyance. I shook a little; scared of what he'd do if I told him the truth. I kept on staring at him, as he did with me. 'Calm down Kiko, it's only a few boys. But, they can kill me if they wanted to! Don't forget about your own strength, and your street credit; don't lay yourself low just because they have guns and because they know you. Just state calmly why you did that, and be cold again, they won't hurt you if you do that. Okay' I thought quietly to myself.

I sighed, and no sign of fear showed on me again. "I spat water onto you by mistake. You surprised me by saying that while I was drinking, it's your fault, not mine." I said sternly to him. I clenched my hands into fists, and dug my long and sharp nails into my skin. I couldn't feel the pain, as I was focussed on him; trying to figure out what he was thinking.

He nodded slowly, and put down his white napkin. He closed his grey stormy eyes for a few minutes, and re-opened them again. "I understand." was all he said. He didn't say anything about forgiving me, or even being angry at me. I nodded slowly, and closed my icy blue eyes. I then opened them, and stared down at my lap, where I was digging my nails into the skin of my hands. I winced slightly at the pain, but slightly enough so that they never knew.

We ordered our dinner, and ate in silence; probably the quietest dinner I have ever had. When we were done, I was so happy for that, I quietly got up, and started towards the door. I heard the scratching of wooden chairs against wooden floors as the Blitzkriegboys got up from the table. They quietly paid the bill. As I placed my hand on the wooden door handle to leave, I remembered that I had no where to go. I lowered my head and sighed to myself. I was lost in a world of my own. A hand came down firmly on my small shoulder. I was shaken from my thoughts, and jumped from fright. It took everything I had to not scream. I turned around, and realized that the hand belonged to Spencer, and the Blitzkriegboys were standing right in front of me. Spencer lowered his hand slowly, and kept it at his side. I stared at them for a minute,, and then began to turn around to leave and head out to the frosty world outside. Another hand, with black fingerless gloves and two rectangular pieces of metal on the hand, and silver studs on the knuckles, grabbed the door handle to keep me from leaving. My gaze followed up his arm, soon realizing that it belonged to Tala. "You just came here, correct?" I nodded to his question, and turned around to face them all. "Then you have no where to stay, correct?" I nodded again. 'where is he taking this? I don't understand!' "Which means you have no money on your person, correct?" Tala asked in a low voice. He was talking in English as well. I nodded to his question, again. "Then, let us pay for you to stay in a hotel." I grew shocked by his offer, and it showed upon my pale white face. 'What? Weren't they the Blitzkriegboys that almost killed people in battle? Weren't they supposed to be cold and outlandishly rash? What happened to them? Why are they being so nice to me? Are they expecting something out of this?' I studied him with my icy blue eyes. Bryan, Spencer, and Ian both shared my surprise.

"Tala sir?" Spencer asked quietly, "what are you thinking?" Tala simply gave him a look, to signify something, something of which I did not know of. He nodded, and didn't say anything else. Tala returned his icy blue gave to me, and raised an eyebrow. I nodded slightly to him, still confused by all of this.

"Are you sure though?" I asked quietly with a hint of confusion in my small voice. He nodded, and waited for me to leave. I opened the door quietly, and stepped out into the icy world known as Russia.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine: Bullet Dodger, What Next?

We all trudged through the icy landscape, until we came to an enormous brown and white building. It had a giant B on it; I guess it means Beyblade or something. We entered calmly, and Tala made his way to the front desk. His team followed him closely, and I a little bit farther behind them. The desk was rather large, it had a clear glass desk top, and the bottom was a rich oak brown color. The girl sitting behind the desk looked up at Tala with her big brown eyes. She kept her brown hair in a small bun behind her head. She had on a black and white suit made for ladies. A silver computer sat in front of her. "Yes, how may I help you?" She asked in her most polite voice. She spoke in Russian, but was a little bit slower so I could understand. People that were passing by to get to their rooms were passing us glances. I put up my 'you touch me and I'll kill you' face. My body was ridged, showing that I was meaning what my face said. My icy gaze stuck to Tala's back, and my clenched fists stayed by my sides.

Tala spoke to her in Russian, and gestured back at me once or twice. The girl nodded, and started typing on her computer quickly. The keys were starting to annoy me, clacking like that. The lobby was very large, so the sound reverberated throughout. My eyes twitched slightly, and my fists were tightly closed together. I dug my long nails into my skin again, hopefully this will keep my temper down. The girl behind the desk sighed, and shook her head. She gave Tala a pleading look, and said something quickly in Russian to him; I couldn't understand it though. Tala nodded, but the girl seemed to be scared of him or something. The look in her brown eyes screamed 'don't kill me!' I couldn't help but smirk at how stupid she looked, dressed like that and asking for forgiveness at the same time, not a good match! Bryan looked back at me while I was smirking, but his look told me to shut up; which made me want to prove him wrong! I don't have to listen to him, but it might be a good idea. I lowered my head, and kept my smart comments to myself.

Eventually, they turned around, and started to leave. Tala glanced at me with his icy blue eyes. He nodded to me, and continued walking towards the doors. Spencer grabbed my arm, and dragged me with them when I didn't move from my spot. His grip was tight, and it hurt somewhat. 'Wow, he's really strong!' I followed him reluctantly; I'd have to say being dragged out of a nice warm place and thrown into an icy environment isn't exactly a fun thing to have done to yourself. I stare at them blankly with my icy blue eyes, waiting for an answer as to why I was still here, outside freezing myself off! Tala turned to me, and nodded to Spencer, he dropped my arm immediately, and stood still with his back straight. "What's going on here?" I asked with a note of pleading in my wretched voice. They all glanced at me with an coldness in all of their eyes. I shivered from the cold air pressing against my skin, and from their cold stares that I received when I asked them that. 'What's going on? Are they going to hurt me or something? Did I do something wrong?' I thought as anxiety rushed up and throughout my body. The cold air got stronger, and blew my trench coat up around my frail body. My medium brown hair swirled around my head and parts of my body. I couldn't help but wrap my thin arms around me. 'What are they thinking about?" I stood my ground, and waited calmly for them on the outside, but on the inside I was strewn with anxiety.

Bryan and Tala sighed in unison. Tala gave Bryan a sharp look, and Bryan took a step back. I guess no one messes with Tala, not even his team mates. 'I wonder if he has any friends? It seems like even his team hates him, poor guy.' I thought quietly to myself. Tala's red hair didn't seem to be moving from the icy wind, that fact surprised me. 'does he use a lot of hair gel?' "They have no open rooms for the current time. What do you want to do?" Tala asked calmly in English. I didn't hear him properly, but seemed in deep thought. I was so transfixed by him, by everything about him, that it seemed that only him and myself were around. Tala watched me with his icy blue eyes. And the rest of the team was quiet in waiting. Tala sighed deeply, and closed his eyes for a minute. He opened them a few minutes later, he still watched me with a steady icy gaze. "What's your name, girl?" He asked me suddenly. I snapped out of it quickly when he asked me that. I cocked my head a little, confused as to why he wouldn't know that. 'If they knew a lot about me, why wouldn't they know my name? Well, when I think more about this, Ian called me miss, and not my name, why?'

I kept my steady gaze on him with my icy blue eyes, "my name is Kiko Wieler." I said calmly in an icy voice. He nodded once, and closed his eyes again. He looked deep in thought 'probably thoughts about doing me in, the nerve!' He opened his eyes again, and nodded to his team.

"I want to see you beyblade, I want to know just how good you are first hand, not just from a tape!" He sneered. I gave a slight surprised look at him. 'What? But, I was hoping that I'd never have to pick up my beyblade again! I didn't even want to get involved with other Beybladers!'

"Um, why?" I asked cautiously.

"That is none of your business, Kiko chan!" My icy eyes widened slightly. 'None of my business? Well, I guess one battle wouldn't be so bad, I guess I can battle him, but only once!' I sighed slightly, and looked him straight in the eye. My expression softened entirely. 'I…I never noticed how captivating his eyes were, I could get lost in them. Anyone could get lost in those beauties. How can he still be single? No, Kiko! Don't think about him like that! You'll never see him again after this battle! You cannot have a crush on him at all! But, I can't help it! I'm so weak!' I hung my head as a sign of weakness, and the wind kept on pushing against us fairly strong.

"Hurry up, Kiko chan! The wind will get stronger than this! You've never lived in Russia, so you wouldn't know!" Bryan suddenly said. I jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, and snapped out of my thoughts.

I sighed in defeat to them. "Fine, I'll battle, okay? You happy now?" But before I had time to regret what I said, Tala had already glared at me with his icy blue eyes. My eyes were wide, what had I just done? He closed his icy blue eyes, and breathed deeply, as if he was trying to stay calm. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean the last part! I wasn't thinking straight!" I said somewhat loudly in a faster paced English. He opened his eyes again, and stared at me for a long while. He stopped glaring at me, and now wore his normal un-emotional look.

"Alright, then follow me, and we'll see just how powerful you are." He said slowly in Russian. I nodded, and followed him as he started walking away. 'I dodged a bullet there didn't I? But, why did It get him angry like that? Oh well, as long as I don't say it again, I'll be okay.'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten: House and Home

Soon, we came to a large building. It was a very big house to be exact. I looked up at the night sky, to find that it was black and grey with big black clouds littering it. Tala came up to the old black door, and took out a key from his pocket. I watched him calmly, and waited for him to open the door. The other's seemed to be at home here, and relaxed a little as he opened the door. He opened it wide, and gestured for me to enter. I quickly followed him inside, and stole a glance around at the place, it was huge! It had a wide and open hallway where the doorway was, it had a big chandelier hanging at on the roof. There were hallways leading straight forward, and then a hallway goes across the entrance room, and enters into two different rooms on either side of the entrance hallway. Long, stairs headed upwards to the second floor of the house. The floors were hard wood, and the walls were painted some creamy color.

Tala walked across the room, and looked back at me as I was standing there gawking. He sighed, and waited for me. The rest of the team had already closed the doors, and were standing beside Tala calmly. I finally snapped out of it, and walked over to them slowly. "Um, sorry about that, it's just that, it's so big! My house wasn't ever this big! I used to live with two of my older brother's, and my parents always gave us the small house because my brother's always work. So, they basically leave me alone at home all day." They nodded slowly, and some of them got out of my way so that I stood beside Tala. I looked up at him, and smiled a small smile. 'He's so tall! He's way taller then I am, I'm such a shrimp.' He led me down the hallway that led straight forward.

The hallway was spacious, and felt empty as we passed it. The walls were the same creamy color as the entrance hall. After a few minutes of walking, we came to strong iron doors. Tala reached out, and took the iron handle and squeezed the handle down. He thrust it open, revealing a very large room. It echoed as we all came into it. Tala left my side, and I was left alone, standing in this empty sounding pitch black room. Suddenly, the sound of a light being switched on reached my ears. I spun on my heel just in time to see the room get filled up with light. Tala stood by the wall near where the door was, with his gloved hand on the light switch. He looked at me with his icy blue eyes, and nodded slightly to me. I turned around again, and my icy blue eyes widened at what I had saw. The room had a white floor, a white roof, and white walls. There were a few navy and black beyblade dishes in the back and the front of the room. Along the far wall, there were black benches. I stood there blankly, waiting for someone to pinch me awake so that I could wake up in my black room again. But this wasn't a dream; nor was it a nightmare, this…was real!

I was lost in thought as Tala's heavy footsteps made their way over to me. He stood beside me, and scanned the area for something. I snapped out of it, and glanced up at him calmly. But, as I did that, I noticed just how firm his face was, could he smile at all? Would he even want to smile if he could? Had he ever smiled before? Has he ever been given a reason to smile? Those questions lurked in my mind as I stared up at him calmly in thought. He seemed to notice, and gave me a quick look, seeming to ask why I was staring at him so intently. I came out of it again, and smiled a very small sheepish smile; and then turned my attention back to the dishes. I sighed, and went up to them quickly. They were so clean, and they seemed un-used. I leaned over them a little, and glanced down; I could see my reflection in them! I cocked my head ever so slightly, and stared back at myself in the clean navy and black dish that lay below me. Tala walked up beside me, his arms were at his sides, and his icy eyes weren't glaring at anything, just staring at it calmly. "How did you find this place? Is it owned by a company that you work for or something?" I asked calmly to him. I didn't take my gaze off of the dish; I was so transfixed by my reflection in it. Tala glanced at me, and then turned back to the dish.

"No, it's ours. The team's I mean. This is our house, too." He replied calmly in low English to me. I gave him a surprised look, and quickly returned my gaze to the dish. 'I've been in his house this whole time? How did I not notice? I'm so oblivious! This is starting to get sad isn't it? Man, what am I supposed to say now?'

"It's beautiful, your house I mean! Have you ever used these dishes before? They're so clean, and look un-used!" I said rather quickly to him. I failed to notice that Bryan, Spencer, and Ian came up behind us. Tala gave me a quick glance, and sighed to himself again.

"Kiko chan, we take very good care of them, we wash them when they get pretty bad, and replace them if they get trashed. Any beyblader who cared would do that!" Ian said loudly in response to my question. I jumped a little bit, surprised at they're presence. I turned around, to face them, and they just stared coldly back at me. I nodded slightly to them, and turned back around to the dish.

"now, your not here to gawk at our house, you are here to battle! Now, we'll use this dish. Bryan will battle you, and he'll go over to the opposite side of the dish. The rules are just as they normally would be in a regular stadium match. The rule if you faint or collapse, or if you leave your post is still there as well. Understood, miss Wieler?" Tala said in English to us. I nodded to him, and stood on the opposite side of Bryan. Tala, Spencer, and Ian all watched from the sidelines, waiting for the battle to begin. Bryan got out his gun shaped launcher from one of his holsters on one of his legs. He also brought out his black ripcord from his pocket, and placed his ripcord through his launcher. He took out his beyblade, and stuck it on his launcher. He nodded to me, and waited for me to take out my beyblading stuff. I sighed to myself, and slowly reached to where my pony tail was. I ran my fingers over a metal part on them, and found a small button on the sides of it. I pressed down on the button, and slowly took out my ripcord. My ripcord was greyish-black, and it was made of metal. I reached down into one of the pockets of my black trench coat, and brought out my black and silver streaked launcher, also made of iron and real silver. I then dug around my trench coat pocket, and retrieved my beyblade.

My beyblade was black and silver. It had a black bass, a silver attack ring, and the top was black as well. Little black spikes stuck out at the top, they were lined with silver. The bit had a black and silver dragon in the middle of the blade. He had silver eyes, and silver streaks on the wings. The claws and fangs were also silver. The whole blade itself was made of iron, and real silver; all except the bit part. I stuck the iron rip cord through the black iron launcher. And quickly stuck my beyblade onto the launcher. I looked up at Bryan, and saw that he had been staring at me as I was assembling my beyblade and launcher. I cocked my head a little, and he stopped staring at me. He regained himself, and acted like he was never staring at all. I switched my attention towards the rest of the Blitzkriegboys. The noticed my gaze, and switched they're attention back to the dish.

"Ready now, Bryan sama?" I asked coolly to him. He nodded, and seemed to notice my icy tone. He arched an eyebrow, and I relaxed myself a little. Tala stood up, and raised a single finger towards the sky.

"3-2-1, let it rip" Tala called. As soon as he said that, Bryan and I launched our blades as soon as 'rip' was sounded. Both blades spun into the dish, and my black and silver one spun in the middle, waiting for Bryan to attack. 'I hope I don't have to use my bit beast, my attacks have gotten more powerful since then, and much power, I cannot control just yet.'


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven: A Memoriable Event

I smirked as I watched his blade spin around my own. How sad he was to think that he could defeat me. After what seemed to be like eternity, he finally said the words: "Fallborg, attack!" His blade lit up somewhat, and it's torque was increased by much as it spun towards my own blade. Bryan was completely transfixed by the match, his stormy grey eyes were gleaming with excitement as they watched his blade spin towards mine. He then looked up as they both collided, and he smirked at me, a menacing smirk. "you have no chance of winning this match, girl!" He snarled with a heavy Russian accent. 'I guess he forgot about my matches that he was supposed to memorize.' I thought calmly as I stared across at him with calm, icy blue eyes. I closed my eyes, and simply waited for an opportune moment. The wind around me was no longer still, but was raging with an ever growing fierceness. My medium brown hair blew around me somewhat, pushing my bangs forward and back. The, the wind had a strange course change; it didn't wildly blow around anymore, but yet it blew straight at me, forcing my pony tail to fly back like a scarf does in the wind, and my bangs were pushed against my forehead. My trench coat flew back; but my eyes remained closed, and my arms were crossed over my chest.

I opened my eyes after a few seconds of waiting, and looked down at the two combating beyblades. Fallborg was still attempting to thrash my blade; it looked so pitiful, that I allowed him to do that a while longer. As the strong wind blew around me, I was coming up with a plan to defeat him. It came to me. A sternness came into my icy blue eyes. "Now, Edragore! Vortex of darkness!" I yelled as I un-crossed my arms. Edragore got out of Fallborg's endless attacks, and started to spin rapidly around him. Soon, Edragore became a black blur, and a large black circle, that looked much like a black vortex, emerged around Fallborg, surrounding it in it's blackness. Soon, Edragore stopped spinning around Fallborg, and Fallborg was tottering very slowly. Fallborg looked in bad shape, and was slowing down quickly. "Edragore, take it out of it's sadness!" I ordered in a fairly loud voice. It reverberated throughout the room. Edragore then hit Fallborg with much power,; Fallborg flew out of the dish, all battered and partially in one piece. Pieces of the blade lay around the dish, and around the blade itself. Edragore then made a zigzag pattern in the shape of a Z, and flew into my open hand. It still spun rapidly even though it was in my clutches, and it started to burn my hand. I winced slightly, and looked down only to see little bits of flesh that were torn from my blade. The little ripped up pieces of skin were torn off, and left small patches of blood all over my hand. I quickly put away my beyblade back in my trench coat pocket inside of my coat. I put my launcher inside of that same pocket. I then placed my rip cord back into my brown hair, and pressed the button again. The top of the cord then closed around my black elastic that kept my hair up.

I turned to watch Bryan as he stooped over his battered beyblade. I slowly made my way over to him, being as quiet as possible, but the emptiness of the room made that hard to do. My footsteps echoed around the room. I gently placed my bleeding hand on Bryan's shoulder softly. "Bryan, I'm sorry that your beyblade got a little trashed, but," I stopped mid-sentence, afraid of what to say. 'Is he angry at me? It wasn't my fault was it? I hope he can forgive me. What did I do? I am such a horrible person, but it wasn't my fault! Was it?' I thought sadly as I stood over him for the first time. Bryan soon stood up, his beyblade in his hand. He stared at me calmly, but it made me quiver slightly as he did so. The wind had stopped now, but it was so strong, that it cut my upper arm through my trench coat. My arm started to feel like lead, and it stung so much. He noticed the tear in my trench coat, and raised a single grey eyebrow. I turned my gaze away from him, and let go of his shoulder. I closed my icy blue eyes, and waited to be hit by him. But the thing that I awaited for never came. Instead, footsteps reached my ears as the rest of the Blitzkriegboys made their way over to us. I looked back up at Bryan, and smiled a small smile at him. I then turned around to face Tala, Spencer, and Ian.

Tala stopped in front of us, and the other two stood behind him, but close enough to hear every word said to us by Tala, and every word said by me and Bryan. Tala nodded to Bryan, and Bryan nodded back at him. Tala then turned his icy blue gaze to me. "Good job, Kiko chan. You beat Bryan easily, and with only one attack. Maybe there is more to you then meets the eye." He said to me in English. I smiled happily at him, and my happiness showed up in my icy blue eyes. 'My first real compliment from Tala! This is so cool! Wait, did he think that I was weak? How rude! Oh well, he doesn't think that anymore.' Tala nodded, and turned around to face the other two. Bryan followed him, and Tala walked straight towards the entrance of the room. The other members of the team fell into line behind him calmly. I followed them all, I was last to leave that empty room.

As I stepped out into the creamy hallway, Tala stopped me from going any farther into the house. He closed the door behind me, and didn't allow me passage into the hallway any further. Tala looked at me with firmness in every corner of his pale white face. He stepped back from me, as he was pretty close to my body before. 'Wow, he was so close I could hear his breathing! So cool!' "Kiko chan, I'm only saying this because you have no where else to go," He said slowly and quietly to me, as if he didn't want the others to hear as well. 'What's he trying to tell me?' He sighed quietly to himself, and he turned his gaze away for a few moments. He then turned back to me, his gaze as steady as ever. "You can stay here if you wish, until you have found somewhere else to live." He told me. My icy blue eyes widened with complete shock and surprise from what he had just told me. 'Stay, here? But, I don't want any charity! What's his game?'


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve: My Room

I managed to gather my wits, and reinstated my calm composure.

I stared at him with my calm, icy blue eyes, and calmly said, "excuse me? Stay here, with you guys, why would you,?" I began my question, but a simple look from him made me stop. 'What the-'

"Kiko chan, I'm only asking this, because you cannot stay on the streets, it's very cold outside at night, more so then in the morning. And, I already talked it over with Ian and Spencer, they both agreed with your staying here. We have multiple rooms in this house that are empty that you can stay in." He gave me another look, and said the thing that had been on my mind, as if he could read it. "We're not doing this out of charity, I want you to train with us as well." He stated calmly, he then turned around, saying that no was not an answer in this case. I gave up fighting him, and sighed to myself, I then quickly followed after him. Tala walked straight down the hallway, and towards the entrance, he picked up my bags and turned to me. 'Did I leave my luggage there? I don't even remember bringing it in here, how strange.' He nodded upstairs to me, and made eye contact with me again. "You're room will be upstairs like the rest of us. I'll show you where we all are in case you need one of us, alright?" I nodded in agreement, and followed him as he trudged upstairs lugging my luggage behind him.

The hard wood stairs weren't that hard to go up, like some stairs are. The railing to them was also made of wood. The walls were the same creamy color all the way up. The hallway had hard wooden flooring as well, it seemed that that was what all of the floors in this house were made of. Tala led me down a very long hallway, and as he passed he said what the rooms were. The first room we came to was Spencer's room, it had a normal chestnut brown door with a normal matching handle. The second door we came to across from Spencer's and a little bit farther down from it, was Bryan's room, the door was black though, with a black door handle. Farther down from Spencer's room was another door, it was also black with a black door handle; it was Ian's room. The room across from Ian's room was the bathroom, it was a simple chestnut brown, with a gold handle. The bathroom was occupied at that moment though. Tala led me farther down, and on the same side as Ian's and Spencer's was his room. It was a rich, red brown color, with a dark brown handle. Across from his room, was my room. It had a light brown door, with a silver handle on it.

Tala stopped, and waited for me to open it as his hand were full. He nodded to it, and I went over and grasped it's handle tightly. I slowly opened the door, and looked back at Tala. He motioned for me to enter, and I did as he said.

The room was large! Well, it was a lot bigger then my old one was. The floors were hard wood much like the rest of the house. There was a single rather large bed against the west wall. The bed had two pillows on it with dark, and light brown pillow cases, they both had white outlining them. The bed was neatly made, and the comforter ended right at the floor. The comforter was a mixture of dark brown, light brown, and white designs. The base of it all was light brown. There was a dresser beside the bed on the left side, it was a lighter shade of dark brown. There was a white lamp with a light brown shade on the dresser. Across the bed on the other side of the room was a dark brown stone fireplace (it had no fire in it yet). On the far wall, there was a larger dresser made for clothes, it was dark brown. Right across from the door was a large window that stretched from each corner of the wall. It was off of the ground, and on me, it was at my shoulder or maybe a little bit higher. On Tala, it was only at the lower part of the highest part of his chest (say it enough and it'll make sense!). The dark brown dresser was underneath the window. The window sill was light brown, and the curtains were drawn, they were light and dark brown.

I was so transfixed by the room, that I didn't notice that Tala walked right by me, and placed my stuff on the bed that was now to be called mine. He turned to look at me as I gawked at the room. After a while, I looked back at him, and smiled slightly at him. I walked towards him slowly, still glancing around at the place. "Tala, this room is beautiful! Are you sure it's alright if I stay here?" 'It seems way better then me somehow. It just seems out of my league. I wonder if they decorated it themselves' He nodded to my question, and met my gaze as I looked back at him. My icy blue eyes shone brightly at him; I was so happy and grateful. I smiled a lot larger at him, it was more noticeable too.

"I'm glad that you like it so much. You can do whatever you want in here, this is your room now. That means that you can place your clothes in that dresser," He said while pointing to the dark brown dresser underneath the window. "You can lift the curtains and such as well. I do recommend using the fireplace because, it gets rather cold outside and in all of the rooms, the wooden flooring doesn't make it any warmer either. You know where we all are, and if you et lost, just call, one of us is usually up or close by." I nodded to him slowly, taking in everything he said. He sighed to himself, and started walking towards the door calmly. Suddenly, the sound of his retreating footsteps stopped, and silence filled the air. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my breathing. I turned around, and faced him. His back was still turned to me, and his arms were at both of his sides. "And one more thing, we usually get up rather early, so our alarm clocks might wake you up. If you can't find us in the morning, we're just in the training room, the one you were just in." He began walking again, and placed his gloved hand on the door handle. I sighed, and walked quickly up to him. 'I want to say good night, but I'm scared of what he might do or say in return, oh well, I don't think he cares about me anyways.' He turned the door handle, and opened the door. It creaked open, and he stepped out into the hallway. He then closed it behind himself. I quickly went up to the door, and put my ear against it. I listened to the sound of Tala's footsteps going into his room across the hallway.

After he closed his door, I took my ear off of the door, and stood there for a few minutes, listening to the silence. After a few minutes had passed, I sighed to myself, and slowly turned around and headed back to the bed. I stared at it for a little bit, and finally got the courage to take my bags off of it, and sit down on it. 'It feels weird to be sharing a house with some boys that I hardly know. Oh well, they were nice to me after all. I'm kind of tired, I should probably get to sleep soon. I laid down on it quietly, and stared up at the white ceiling above me. I sat up again, and went over to my luggage. I opened up the bag, and found my pyjama's; a simple black tank top with white and black light, baggy pants. I slowly changed into them, and went over to the bed again. I pulled back the covers, and went into them. I then pulled the comforter and covers back onto me quickly; it was freezing in here! I looked down at my arms, and sighed to myself tiredly. I then noticed that the lamp beside me was already on; it was pretty bright to light up this whole room. I then began to remove everything on my arms. After around 15 minutes, I had everything out of my hair, everything off of my arms, and everything off of my neck. They were all placed beside me on the little dresser in nice and neat piles. I smiled to myself, and reached over to switch off the lamp. I did so, and laid down on the nice and soft bed. I laid my head on the pillows, and slowly drifted off to a deep and sound sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen: Reverence in the Morning

I awoke quickly as reverence ran through my veins. The horrible dream that I had just awoken from had frightened me terribly. I sighed to myself as I glanced around the room that was now mine. I then glanced beside myself and saw that the digital clock beside me said that it was 9:26 am. I sighed, and flopped back down on the comfortable bed. I closed my icy blue eyes, and laid there for a few more minutes. 'wait, I don't remember a clock being there last night. Where did it come from? Who put it there?' Alarm then ran up my body as I quickly sat up again. I ran my fingers through my dark and thick medium length brown hair. I threw the blankets off of my thin body, and sat straight up on the bed. I swung my legs around, and my feet landed on the hard wood floor. I sighed again, and stood up quickly. A wave of dizziness swept over me, so I stood there for a few minutes trying to catch myself again. Fairly soon, I was fine again. I walked oer to my clothes, and changed into black leather pants with silver sticking down the pant legs, and threw on a black leather tank top that had thick straps. The shirt showed a little bit of my stomach, but not a lot. It wasn't high enough to show my belly button though. I then changed my socks, but they were black as well. I went over to the dresser beside my bed, and slipped on everything that went on my arms. The spikers went all the way up to my elbows, and then a chain went around my left elbow, and four other chains came up from them and clicked onto my tank top strap. On my right arm above my spiker's was black netting all the way up to where my tank top strap was. The chains that were on my neck were placed on next. My other chains that went on my leather pants came next. Finally, I was almost done. I had to just fix my hair, and I was done for my aesthetics. I quickly pulled out a comb and a brush, both were black. I first combed out my medium length, dark brown hair, and then pulled it up into a high pony tail. I then took the brush and ran it over to make it look nice and neat. I [laced my rip cord into my hair, and placed another spiked object around my hair elastic. I sighed, and slowly made my way to my door. As I opened it, I found myself thinking how natural this morning was even though it wasn't in my own home. I shrugged slightly; I mean who cares who's house this is anyways? 'I care! I feel awkward! And it's way too early in the morning!' I thought to myself as I closed my door quietly and made my way to the bathroom.

I came to it, and stopped just before placing my hand over the gold handle. 'what if someone is in there? This sucks! Just calm down, Kiko, it's not like this is new to you, I mean you've lived with only brother's before! This is nothing new! And remember when you stayed with your best friend's house for a month? Just knock on the door!' I listened to my thoughts, and slowly knocked on the door. The sound reverberated throughout the hallway. My body tensed as I waited for the echoing to stop. Eventually, it did. I stood there shaking slightly with my hand on the door. My icy blue eyes were glued to it steadily. Nothing happened. No one came to the door, and no one from either side of the hallway came out. 'Maybe they're still asleep.' I slowly placed my ear against the door, and listened to see if anyone was in there. I didn't hear anything, so I closed my icy blue eyes to concentrate better.

A strong hand came down on my shoulder, making me scream loudly in surprise. The hand winced somewhat, and tightened it's hold on me. I opened my eyes, and turned around to face Tala. I immediately turned pink at the sight of him standing there. 'I just screamed in front of Tala! What will he think of me now? Calm down, Kiko! He is the one at fault, he was the one that made you scream! You aren't supposed to like him, you just met him! Calm down and give your head a shake!' I calmed down, and stared at him with my icy blue eyes calmly. "Um, you scared me, I'm sorry I screamed." I said quickly to him. My voice was shaking, and I avoided looking at him. He didn't give any answer right away, but also didn't let go of my shoulder. I felt his gaze upon me, which made me blush even more to my dislike.

He smiled faintly at me, and dropped his hand back to his side. "What are you doing?" He asked calmly to me. If he had any emotion of anger towards me, his voice sure didn't show it. My gaze was still away from him, so all I could focus on was the sound of his voice.

"Um, I was checking to see if the bathroom was free. The door was closed so I wasn't sure." I replied slowly to him in a very low voice. He seemed to notice my blushing, because he took one step back from me to allow me more space.

He nodded to me slowly, and studied me with his icy blue eyes. "I don't think it's in use. You can go in now. I apologize for the scare though." I nodded to him, and slowly turned around. I grasped the door handle tightly, and turned the knob. I glanced quickly back at him, and went inside the bathroom. I closed the door quickly, but not before Tala put his foot in the door making it impossible for me to close. "I'll be outside the door, you don't know how to lock the door yet so, I'll keep watch for you." I smiled at him from behind the door, and nodded. He then took his foot out, and I closed the door again.

After a few minutes, I came out of the bathroom again. The bathroom was pretty much plain, a white toilet, white marble floors, a white counter, a big mirror over the counter, a silver sink on the white counter, and white bathtub with white and silver curtains. I smiled up at him happily. "Um, thanks, Tala." I said to him not as quietly as before. He nodded to me, and motioned for me to quietly get out of the way. He left the door open, and walked down the hallway calmly.

"Are you hungry or something?" He called to me over his shoulder. I nodded to him, and followed after him quickly.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Un-scheduled Meal

'He's so tall! He is also so nice. Why does he care if I'm hungry or not? He did the same thing to me last night! How odd this man is, oh well. As long as I'm staying here I might as well do as they say. Man, it feels awkward! I'd better find a home soon, I don't want to be here for very long.' I thought as I followed him calmly. He led me down the hard wood stairs quietly. As soon as we got downstairs, I stopped and listened; it was quiet. It was so quiet, I could hear Tala's breathing.

He motioned for me to continue following him, and so I did as he instructed. He led me into the room right next to the stairs. He led me down the hallway quietly. The walls were still the same creamy color all the way down the hallway. The flooring all throughout the house was hard wood. As I looked down at it, I realized that the flooring was the same kind of red looking wood that made up Tala's door. Eventually, we came out of the creamy hallway. We then entered what looked to be the kitchen area.

The kitchen had hard wood flooring of the same texture as the rest of the house. The counter tops had a mix of red's and browns to bring out the red in the wood. A black stove with a completely flat top was placed right against the wall closest to us right now. The cupboards were the same red and brown color with black knobs to open them up. The fridge was across from the stove, the fridge was black as well. The sink was down from us, it was black as well. There were cupboards on top of the counter that hung down from the ceiling. There was a gap where the wall should have been beside the fridge, so it showed the next room beside it.

The room beside it consisted of a large black table with various chairs and couches surrounding it. There were random books in Russian and other languages on top of the table. On one of the creamy walls was a black clock that read it's numbers in Russian. A black book case lay on the far corner of the room holding many books. Beside it was a large, black, flat screen TV. 'Wow, this place is really dark isn't it? They probably did it themselves or something like that. I wonder what they're rooms look like? Probably dark and creepy or something. Is there a computer in this house? It's so big! But it's so empty as well, poor them. You know, if I end up joining their team, maybe I could live here longer! They'd be like brother's! Too cool, but somewhat creepy. Imagine Tala as my brother!' I started laughing quietly to myself at the randomness of my thoughts. Tala looked at me as I did that; I guess he was accustomed to the silence of the house. I stopped laughing after a little bit, and my face turned slightly pink. Tala smiled faintly as I avoided eye contact a little bit.

Tala moved past me, and farther into the kitchen. I slowly calmed myself down, and gathered enough calmness about myself to look back up at him. His back was turned to me as he went over to the black sink. He then turned around and leaned against the black sink. He raised a single eyebrow at me, but I didn't get the message. 'What does that mean? does it mean am I done, or what?' I stood there in the kitchen with a blank stare pasted onto my face. The silence filled the air again as we stood there staring at each other. He sighed and closed his icy blue eyes. He then crossed his arms across his chest while leaning against the counter in front of the sink.

As I was staring at him calmly, I failed to notice the rest of the Blitzkriegboys coming up from behind me. They stopped, and stood there calmly, waiting for me to move away. Tala opened his icy blue eyes, and nodded to them. My confused expression said it all for me. "The rest of the team is behind you, Kiko chan." Tala said calmly to me. My icy eyes grew wide slightly. I quickly shuffled over so that the rest of them can go into the kitchen. As they walked passed me, Ian gave me a quick glance, and then walked into the room beside the kitchen with all the chairs. He sat down on one of the black leather chairs calmly, and never said a word. Bryan and Spencer leaned against the counter beside Tala calmly. After a few minutes of leaning, they walked past me and into the room where Ian was. None of them said a word to me, which was fine by me. 'They all seem to tired and cold today; I wonder why.' Tala came towards me calmly, and said quietly to me in slow Russian, " Kiko chan, what do you usually eat for breakfast?" I gave him a surprised glance, and he noticed it. He kept his steady icy blue gaze on me, until I answered him.

"Um, I usually don't eat first thing in the morning." He nodded to me, and raised an eyebrow to me. Seeming to ask if I wanted to eat this morning. I slowly shook my head to him. He nodded, and walked past me into the other room. He sat down on one of the black leather chairs. I stared at him as he left quietly. He seemed to notice it, and glanced back at me. As he did so, I turned my gaze away from him quickly. 'I know that I'm hungry, but I also know that if I eat now I'll get sick later on today.' As I stood in the kitchen thinking, the Blitzkriegboys were looking at me thoughtfully. The then turned their gaze away from me, and moved closer towards the table whispering things in Russian, but it was so quiet, and I was lost in my own thoughts, that I didn't get a chance to listen in to them.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen: Demolitionboys' POV

At The Table

-At The Table-

"Why is she still here, Tala sir? I don't trust her in the least, there's just something about how she battled yesterday that seems untrustworthy." Bryan asked in low Russian. Tala glanced at him, and began to fiddle with the remote on the black table.

"She's here because I wanted to ask you all something." All of them turned their attention to Tala, and waited for him to continue. "You all did notice how powerful she is, correct?" Tala raised an eyebrow at them. They nodded slowly to him.

"Battling her was different then battling anyone else. She toyed with me, and then killed me off right away. She is incredibly strong. What about it, Tala sir?" Bryan replied. Tala glanced up at him, and continued fiddling with the remote.

Tala sighed to himself, and looked back up at his team. "Did you fail to notice that the next world championship is coming up soon?" They shook their heads slowly to him. 'Is he insinuating that she join us? First, she's a girl! Second, why would she want to join us? She'd be a great advantage for sure, but how do we know that she'd want to join us?' Spencer thought to himself. "Kai Hiwatari is re-joining his old team again, the BBA Revolutions. Which means that Tyson will have an advantage over us, more so than before. The White Tiger X team is entered again as well, and there were rumours that they were recruiting a new member of high calibre. The All Starz have gotten their old team mates back, that enlarges their team. There is also rumoured that the Bega team has a new member as well; and they were stronger than us before without the new member. Many other teams are coming forth as well, so I'm just asking," He was cut short as Spencer interrupted him quickly.

"Tala sir, if she joins then we have to change our name. And we don't know if she wants to join either, we can't force her to do anything." Bryan nodded to Spencer's comment, and so did Ian. Tala sighed to himself again, and grew more cold towards them.

"Did I fail to mention, that Boris is sending in one of his teams in again." The rest of the team grew silent and stiff as he said that. Even the name Boris sent them cold as ice.

"There is no harm in asking her. We still can't force her to join, but we can ask her." Ian spoke up for the first time in the whole conversation. Bryan nodded slowly, and Spencer just sat there watching the table silently.

"It would give us an advantage over a lot of the other teams, she is rather strong." Bryan spoke quietly to his team. Tala nodded in agreement.

"Then it's decided, we'll ask her today. But, we should make her battle with us one more time. I'm not sure if there will be tag team battles in the tournament, most likely there will be tag team battles. After training today we'll ask her, alright?" They nodded in agreement, and they all sat back in their chairs. Tala had his icy blue eyes closed while he was leaning back. Bryan and Spencer sat together on the black leather couch, and Ian sat back on a black leather chair. They all had a calmness about them, as if nothing had just happened.

'I still do not trust her, but maybe Tala is right this time, maybe she will help us in the end. But, he also said that about that Kai Hiwatari, and we lost that championship! I hope his intuition is correct this time around, I really do not want to loose another championship that badly again.' Bryan thought as he sat beside Spencer, who was also in deep thought about this.

'Maybe Bryan is right, how do we know if we can trust her and depend on her? If one of those new players on those teams are her friends or something like that, then she might throw the match to them! We do not know anything about her, but maybe we should give her the benefit of the doubt. We don't know anything about her, so we cannot decide if she is worth trusting or not. I think that Tala only wants her because she's strong, that's the only reason he allowed Kai in the team. He couldn't have another reason, could he?' Spencer thought quietly.

'She did seem nice last night. I just hope that Bryan isn't right this time. The whole thing with Kai really knocked us down hard. Well, she is incredibly strong! Stronger than any of the other girls we've met up with before, but that isn't many either. I can't wait to tinker with her blade, it'll be so much fun annoying her! But, who knows what may lay in store for us. Man, I think Bega is coming back, that really sucks! I hate them! I think I'll study her, to see how strong she really is! Mwahahahahahahaha!' Ian thought mischievously.

'She did seem strong last night, she'll be a great asset to our team. But, maybe we should watch her beyblade for a little while, just to see if she is an asset to us, or if she's a great let down instead. When we go down to Japan for the tournament, it might get awkward, unless we just curtain it off. Mhm, that's what we'll do. She'd better not be like Kai, or I might have to hurt her! Oh, wait, I can't hurt her, she's a girl. But, I can hurt Kai if she turns out to be like Kai.' Tala's thoughts kept on going as he sat there in the black leather chair, with his icy eyes closed.


	16. Chapter 16

chapter sixteen: Three Person Battle

As I leaned against the wall in silence while thinking with my icy blue eyes closed, I realized that I truly don't belong here. I sighed to myself quietly, and opened my icy blue eyes. My dark brown bangs hung over my face to hide my cold eyes of ice. My arms were crossed over my chest, and my breathing was quiet and normally paced. I looked up at them, as their low mumbling had ceased. They were leaning back against their chairs and or couches, they seemed deep in thought about something. 'Maybe they're redecorating!' I thought sarcastically. I watched them closely, Tala had his eyes closed, and the rest were just leaning back and looked far off from the normal world. Their peaceful state made my thoughts of anguish cease, and peaceful emotions took over.

After what seemed forever, the boys stood up, and began walking slowly towards me. 'They don't seem at peace now, crap!' I thought. My expression remained un-feeling as they slowly walked past me. Tala glanced down at me with his icy blue eyes. "Kiko chan, I wish for you to join us in our training, okay?" I nodded slowly to him, and he led me to where their training area was kept. 'Training! I hate training! How can they train like this? This sucks!' I thought sulkily to myself. Soon, we came to the locked iron doors that belonged to their training room. Tala slowly took out a small silver key that he then used to open up the iron door. He opened the iron door, and felt around the walls for the light switch. He walked in slowly, and the rest of the team followed closely behind him. Their iron toed boots clambered on the flooring, and the emptiness of the room made the noise echo.

Tala stopped where Bryan and I had battled the other day, and scanned the dish with his icy blue eyes. 'What if the attack I gave Bryan yesterday had left marks on the dish! This is bad!' I nervously walked up to Tala, and instinctively grabbed my left arm with my right hand. My breathing was short and quick as I waited for him to yell at me. But, it never came. "Kiko chan, did you do this?" Tala asked me. The sound of his voice reverberated throughout the room. It boomed so loudly, that it made me wince somewhat as I was standing right next to him when he said it. 'Why is he speaking so loudly? He's acting as if he's proving something to his team.' I nodded quickly, and Tala turned his attention to me instead of the scarred dish. He smirked faintly at me, and glanced behind me at his team. 'What is this all about?' "Kiko chan, Spencer would like to battle you, is that alright with you?" I nodded to him, my gaze locked on the dish. 'Why isn't he angry at me?' "And, if it's alright with you, I'd like to make it more interesting." I looked up at him with my icy blue eyes. 'How so?' "We've already seen what damage you can do with one-on-one battles. Lets see what you can do with two-against-one battles, are you alright with this?" He asked me slowly. 'What the-I don't understand this at all! Why would he want two guys to battle me at once? Oh well, I'll do it!' I nodded excitedly to him, and motioned to the rest of his team behind me.

Very quickly after that, Bryan and Spencer came up to me, and went on one of the sides of the dish. They were already setting up their beyblades'. I glanced at Tala once more, and walked over to the other side of the dish. I took out my iron rip cord, my launcher, and my beyblade. Bryan and Spencer were just attaching their 'blades to their launchers. I did the same. Tala stood in the middle of us, and closed his icy blue eyes. He waited for a few minutes, and by then, Ian had already sat down on the bench to watch. Tala opened his eyes, and said slowly, "3, 2, 1, let it rip!" He then retreated to the bench as Bryan, Spencer and I launched our 'blades.

Edragore spun straight towards the middle, while Falborg and Seaborg spun around the dish; waiting to attack. After what seemed like forever, Seaborg spun it's way towards Edragore. "Edragore, dodge it!" I quickly yelled out. Edragore did as he was told, and got out of the way. But, because I was so concerned about Spencer, I forgot about Bryan. Right when Edragore was going to attack the defenceless Seaborg, Falborg hit him with a large amount of power. 'I've battled him before, I know that he uses wind to help him, but what does Spencer use?' I thought as Falborg was bashing into Edragore. Seaborg then came up behind Edragore, and started bashing into him as well. 'Darn it! Why are they doing that? Wait a minute, I can use vortex of darkness, oh, no I can't! In order for me to use that, I need to circle around them, but I can't at the moment,. Hmm, maybe-' A plan then formed in my mind as I was gazing at the spectacle below me. "Edragore, darkness clash!" As soon as the words of the coming attack left my lips, black and white energies emitted from Edragore. In a few quick seconds, both white and black dark energies started pushing Falborg and Seaborg away from my 'blade. The energies were relentless, and started grating their 'blades. Bryan and Spencer gritted their teeth, and Bryan clenched his fists.

A spark was born into their eyes; the spark of a fighter, of a bloodlust, of a wanting to win. Bryan nodded to Spencer, and Spencer nodded back, they then turned their attention back to me. A strong wind kicked up around the dish, and was slowly trying to push the energies away from them. Their blades' finally got around them, and both spun to where their bladers' were standing. They then spun back to where Edragore was at full speed. The dark energies disappeared into the air quietly. The wind soon died down, but Falborg and Seaborg were soon attacking with their full force.

"Falborg, stroblitz!" Bryan called. The wind picked up very quickly then, and began to get violent. As the wind brushed over my body, I began to feel pain ripping up my arms. I looked down to find that the wind had begun to cut myself; they were only little cuts though. Falborg then started banging into Edragore very hard. Edragore managed to not get flown out of the dish, but Spencer started his attack.

"Seaborg 2, stramolyu!" He called out just as Bryan had done. A giant purple and blue whale came out, and a large amount of rushing water came my way. I put my arms in front of myself and crossed them in a protective stance. The water had a strong current, and the wind was just as strong. Because of the wind and water together, a whirl pool began to form in the water where Edragore was. 'Now what? I'm so stupid! Why did I accept this? I know, because I'm too proud to turn any battle down.' I thought angrily.

"Edragore, vortex of darkness!" Edragore spun a lot faster now, and a black looking vortex emerged from beneath the water. Edragore screeched loudly, and it echoed; hurting my ears in the process. My eyes changed from icy blue, to black with silver streaks emitted in them. Soon, the water was being sucked into the vortex, and both 'blades were beside each other, right where the vortex was.

Soon, Edragore got them into the hole, and he emerged, yet no one could see him. He quickly started thrashing the two beyblades, tearing them up slowly. After a few minutes of torture, Edragore called off the attack, and spun away un-harmed. However, Falborg and Seaborg could barely spin. "Edragore, finish them off!" I ordered. Bryan and Spencer's faces had a look of shock pasted upon them; clearly they didn't think that I could beat them so badly. Edragore spun towards them again, and bashed into them, making Falborg and Seaborg fly out of the dish, and crash onto the floor beneath.

I smirked slightly, and Edragore came back to my hand. He was still spinning though, and started to rip apart my hand quickly. Small cuts turned into gashes, so I dropped my 'blade before he made the gashes even deeper. It clanged to the floor leaving the sound of metal in the air for a few seconds. I grasped my hand quickly, and tried to hide it from them. I glanced up at them, and my eyes changed back to icy blue once more. "Hey, are you guys okay?" I asked as I walked over to them. They looked up, with what was left of their beyblades in their hands. They nodded, and motioned for Tala to come over.

Tala got the message, and came towards us slowly with Ian not far behind. Tala nodded to them, and he walked over to me afterwards. "Good job, you have a large amount of power at your feet." I nodded to him, and he glanced down at my bleeding hand. "Are you okay?" He asked after glancing at it for a few seconds. I nodded, and faked a smile. My hand stung, and felt like a few needles were being punctured through my skin. He sighed, and gently took my other hand away from my bleeding one. He took my bleeding right hand into his own, and looked it over. He glanced up at me, and led me towards the iron door. "We'll be right back. We have to do something right now." He said as he pushed past the doors, and led me down the hallway quickly.


	17. Chapter 17

Kiko, Edragore, Kiko's attacks, Kiko's beyblade, and the house is all mine. The Blitzkriegboys, thier beyblade's, and they're attacks, and Beyblade is not mine, it is Takao Aoki's.

Chapter seventeen: New Member

Tala led me straight to the kitchen, and led me over to where the sink was. He turned on cold water, and waited until it was icy cold. He gently placed my hand under the rushing, clear water. I winced from the pain ripping up my arm. 'I hate having my wounds cleaned, it hurts so much!' I let him clean it anyways, I felt lazy that morning, and knew that he was probably a lot stronger than I was. After a few minutes, around two or three, he took my hand out of the water again. My hand continued to bleed, so he placed it under the cold water once more. "Keep it under the water, okay? I'll be right back." I nodded slightly, and he left the kitchen area. After five minutes of waiting for him in the kitchen with my hand under the water, he came back with a red box. He came over to me, and took my hand out of the water again, it was still bleeding, but not quite as much as before. He nodded to me slightly, and he placed the red box on the red and brown counter beside us. He opened it, with him still holding my hand, dug through the box quickly.

I kept my icy blue eyes on him with an unfaltering gaze. 'He's helping me, why? He's going to actually wrap up my hand, that is so cool! I knew he was nice!' He found some white cloth, and turned back to me. It was silent in the house other than the sound of the tap gushing out water. His icy gaze kept me calm, as he gently turned my hand over in his own hands. He sighed suddenly, braking his silence, and began wrapping my hand with the white cloth. It was tight, but not too tight. It was actually very comfortable. After he finished wrapping it, he tied it rather tightly so as to not become un-done. He looked at me, and silently asked me if it was okay the way it was. I nodded yes to him, and he nodded in return. He kept my hand in his for a few moments longer, and then let it go. He turned his back to me, and started putting the stuff back into the first aid kit. 'Wow, this is really something. He is so nice, even if he doesn't want to be nice. He is really cute as well, no, stop thinking like this! Your leaving in a few days time, you can't have a crush on him, you can't! He will never love you!' Even though my thoughts screamed no, I knew that it was already too late; I liked him.

"Are you okay now?" He asked me suddenly. I nodded, and blushed lightly. 'I hate having people help me with my wounds.' He turned the tap off, and turned back to me. "Kiko chan, you have shown a great amount of power to us, and that was only one of your lighter attacks. Kiko chan, as you know, there is an up coming tournament for the next world championships, and the other teams of the world have recruited new members for their teams." 'What is he trying to say?' He stood in front of me, and his normally cold and unfeeling eyes suddenly had what looked like something other than that in them. I'm not even sure what, but there was something else in them, something that said that he meant what he was trying to say.

"so, I talked this over with my team, and we all decided, that we want you to join our team. Now, it is your decision to accept our offer, or to be rid of us forever." Shock showed up on every corner of my face; and Tala knew it. He smirked very faintly, and turned his back to me to wipe his hands on the black towel on the stove rack. 'Join their team? But, I'm not a boy! I guess it wouldn't be that bad, as long as they change their name. I mean, it's not as if we'd be sharing a hotel room, and they're not perverts; so either way. And, it's an excuse to talk to Tala! Yeah, I'll do it!'

"Tala sama," he turned around to face me, and raised a single eyebrow, "I'd like to join the team." He nodded to me, and his eyes showed what looked like delight. I sighed slowly though, "Could we change the name though? I'm not a boy, and the name now clearly states," He cut me off with a single nod. I smiled happily at him, and my icy eyes shone with happiness. 'He's so nice!'

He slowly started to walk out back to the training area. I followed, and then he walked normal paced. I followed him back, but I walked behind him instead of walking beside him. He opened the doors, and held them open for me when he went inside. Bryan, Spencer, and Ian all looked up when we walked in, and Bryan seemed to raise an eyebrow. Tala nodded, and a small smile spread across Ian's face. Bryan and Spencer just nodded, and stood there awkwardly.

Tala led my towards them. I looked up at Bryan and Spencer, and then glanced down at Ian. "We're changing our name." Tala said abruptly. They nodded to him, and Bryan gave me a look, of what I thought, was disgust. Spencer just nodded, and so did Ian. I shifted uncomfortably in my stance, and kept my gaze lowered. Tala then, grabbed my arm rather tightly, and forced me closer to them. His grip didn't hurt, but I guess he didn't want me left out or something. I still kept my gaze a little lowered, as I am quite shy around people.

"Tala sir, what are we going to change it to?" Spencer spoke up through the silence of it all. Tala looked up at the roof, and closed his eyes. 'He looks to deep in thought.' The rest just looked at him, waiting for him to give them an answer. He opened his eyes suddenly, and looked back at the team. The team was dead silent as they waited in vain for the answer to part his lips.

"What about, Neoborg?" The team nodded to him, and I glanced up at him quickly. 'why Neoborg? Oh well, it sounds so cool! It's catchy and unique, just like them, but not catchy, because I'm not sure if a person can be catchy.' Tala raised an eyebrow to me, and I nodded excitedly. He gave me a faint smirk, and I smiled happily back at him.

For the rest of the day, we trained endlessly. We barely took any breaks, and when we did, they were rather short. I wasn't really used to training at all, since I never really had any reason to. I've never been beaten due to my super attack that has never been countered. Training wasn't really easy for me anyways, I never got the reason why one would train. But, this is my team, and we train every day, all day. Around 6:30, Tala gave the order to stop, and we all went towards the kitchen. I was beat, but the other's acted as if it were nothing. 'They must either be used to this, or they have gotten harder training before.' We all sat down around the clear table with the black stand. We all made our own dinner's, well except for me; Tala made mine.

Afterwards, I was so beat, that I decided to get to bed. I got up, and made my way back to the stairs. I went up them, and went straight to the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, and everything else one does before bed. Then made my way towards my room. I closed my door, and looked around; still amazed that this was now my room. I walked over to where my clothes were kept, and changed into black and white baggy pants that weren't very warm. They were black, but had white dragon's on it. I pulled my black tank top on, and slipped under the covers on my bed. I switched on the light beside me, and began to take off the spikers and chains I wore on my arms, and neck and hair. Soon, a little pile lay beside me of everything that was on me that day.

I sighed to myself, and suddenly didn't feel tired, so I went over to where my clothes were, and pulled out one of my favourite books. I went back to bed, and began to read in the silence of my room.

I glanced at my clock after finishing a few chapters, and realized that it was already 9:00. "oh wow, I didn't know that these chapters were that long, well, It is the original of one of the greatest classics in the world. So, I guess it's alright that it's long.' I was interrupted from my thoughts when the sound of knocking on my door echoed throughout my room. I got up, and put my book down. I went over to my door, and opened it quickly. Tala stood there in my doorway. "Oh, hi, Tala." I said cheerfully, "why are you here?"

He glanced up at me with his icy eyes, and smirked faintly at me. "I just wanted to say, good night. And, get up whenever you want, there's no real schedule around here." I nodded to him, and smiled up at him.

"Okay, thanks Tala. You know, your really nice." My eyes were bright with happiness, and I leaned against the door slightly.

He looked at me, startled somewhat by my comment. He nodded, which meant okay then, and he turned his back to me. He went across the hallway, and opened his door. I closed mine, and went over to my bed once more. I put my book away, and switched the light off. I pulled the covers over my head, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

(Neoborg is the Japanese name for the team. So, it's not mine either!)


	18. Chapter 18

Edragore, Kiko, Kiko's attacks, Kiko's beyblade and the house, and Tala's room are all mine, so please do not copy them, thank you. The Blitzkrieboys (Neoborg), beyblade, their attacks, and their 'blades are not mine, they are Takao Aoki's. (I'm sorry that this chapter is short, but the next one will be longer, hopefully).

chapter eighteen: Tala's POV

Tala's POV

He closed the door to his room, and rested his head against the red brown door. 'Why did I just do that? Well, I guess it wasn't that bad, I only said goodnight, there's nothing wrong about that. She said I was nice, no one has ever told me that before. I am not nice, I'm not nice, aren't I? I don't know anymore, she's a lot nicer then I could ever be, so why did she call me nice? I don't understand, oh well.' He slowly turned around, and stood there for a few seconds trying to adjust to the darkness of the room.

After his eyes adjusted, he walked over towards his bed. It had a black comforter, with black sheets. His pillows were also black, but with red rimming. He sighed, and sat down on it. 'Another day, another worthless, lonely day. I'm surrounded by people, and yet I'm lonely, how can this possible be? It doesn't make sense, but then again, when does anything make sense.' He got up, and went across his room to where his personal bathroom was. It was black like most of his room.

The shower curtains were black with red markings all over them. The tiles were black with red lining; much like his pillow. The glass beside the sink was translucent black, it looked like some kind of gem. The sink was silver, like most sinks are. his toothbrush was also black. He sighed to himself, and opened up his mirror above the sink.

The cabinet was not filled up completely. It had some bottles of pills used for headaches and muscle relaxants and such like that. It also had deodorant, cologne, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. He sighed to himself as he reached in and took his black toothbrush out. He then took his toothpaste out; it was white and tasted like mint. He closed his cabinet, and ran water over his toothbrush. And then he squeezed out a little bit of his toothpaste and placed it onto his toothbrush. He turned the tap off, and began brushing his teeth. 'Training was fine today, that girl really trained hard. Maybe she can cope with more than I thought she could. It doesn't matter though, well, yes it does. When we get to Japan, we 're going to have to figure out something to do with her, either curtain off an area for her, or get her her own room.' He spat, and continued brushing. 'Hopefully, training tomorrow will go as good as today's. I hope that she doesn't know where we come from here in Russia, or find out what I am.' His eyes grew darker somewhat , and his hand stopped brushing. He spat out once more, and remained still. He focussed on his reflection in the mirror in front of him. His hand slowly went to his reflection of his face, and his fingers lightly brushed it. 'I'm a freak, a monster beyond compare. If she ever found out about me; I'm not sure what I'd do.' He ran water over his toothbrush again, and flicked it a few times. Then he carefully placed it back into the cabinet along with his toothpaste.

He looked at the shower, and sighed again. He went over to it, and turned on the hot water. His shampoo, conditioner, and body wash was all in it already. He pulled back the curtains, and took a quick shower. After he got out, he fixed his fiery red hair. He made it stand up at the sides of his head again. His black muscle shirt stuck to him like glue; showing off his muscular abs. He was still rather wet, but he didn't mind. 'I'd better get to bed, I don't want to have Bryan banging on my door tomorrow morning because I overslept one minute. He's annoying to wake up to, besides, he could wake up Kiko chan while he was doing that.' He shook his head somewhat as he walked back out to his bedroom. 'Why am I worrying over her so much? I shouldn't; before people start thinking things that they shouldn't be thinking. She's just a girl after all; just a girl that happens to be on my team, a girl that happens to be kind of pretty, a girl who would never accept me for me. Tala, stop thinking these things about her; what if someone else finds out?' He threw his jacket over to his chair on the far side of the room by the window. 'what if she finds out? What then; nothing that's what, she'd hate me for a long time, and never be able to look at me again.' He threw back the covers of his bed, and sat down on them.

Glancing at his nightstand, he sighed and reached over to his black clock beside him. He then set it to go off at 5:30 am. 'I hate getting up so early, but I need to. For the sake of my team, I need to. But, I can't help that wish that sometimes I didn't have to, maybe then I wouldn't be so angry during the middle of the day.' He replaced his clock on the nightstand, and laid down on his bed again. He pulled the covers over his thin frame. He then placed his arms under his head contently, and stared up at the ceiling of his room. 'Tomorrow is yet another tiring day; maybe Bryan won't make it so trying, like today.' He didn't feel tired, but closed his icy eyes anyway. And soon, like everyone else, drifted to sleep. However, it wasn't a peaceful sleep, it was dreary and broken; much like what he thought his life was.

End of Tala's POV


	19. Chapter 19

Edragore, Kiko, Edragore's attacks, Kiko's beyblade, and the house are all mine, so please do not copy them, thank you. I know i said it'd be longer, but, I'm sorry! The blitzkriegboys, thier beyblades, thier attacks, and beyblade are not mine, they are Takao Aoki's.

Chapter nineteen: Weak

I woke up around 7:47 am. Sighing, I turned over to lay on my back. I brushed my hand over my face, and laid there for a few more moments. 'Today I have to train, again. What joy, what joy! I hate training! But, at least I don't have to get up early, just everyone else. I wonder why. Oh well, it doesn't matter much, now doesn't it?' I threw back the covers, and my feet touched the cold floor below me. Shuddering, I lightly stepped out into my room. 'I still cannot believe that this is my room, it's so nice!' I slowly made my way over to where my clothes were, and quickly changed into a black tank top with wide straps. It wasn't made of leather like yesterday's, but yet made of some kind of stretchy material. I quickly slipped on my black jeans afterwards. While digging through my bag looking for my short sleeved, light, black sweater that had silver buttons to do-it up; but the knocking at my door got my attention before I found it. "Coming!" My voice echoed through the room, as it was empty like the training room. I tried looking for it once more, than sighed and gave up. I trudged over to my door, and opened it quickly. Tala was standing in my doorway; his icy blue gave upon me instantly.

My face pinkened faintly at the sight of him (my tank top was really tight ). 'Why is he here? Man, my arms are bare, crap.' I crossed my arms across my chest, in a last attempt to hide my arms from him; and he noticed it. "Bryan wanted you up; he thought you were being lazy. So, I came to wake you up." He raised an eyebrow in question to why I was trying to hide my arms. I smirked, and didn't answer. 'He can ask me if he wants to know.'

Tala glanced around my room from outside it, and rested his gaze upon me again. He nodded to me, and retreated back down the hallway. I shrugged slightly, and closed my door again. I dug around in my bag for a few more minutes, and found nothing. 'Oh, who cares. I care!' Panic rose in my throat slowly; where was it? I sighed again, as my door was being pounded on instead of being calmly knocked upon. I growled lowly, and got up again. I clenched my fists tightly, and made my way quickly over to the door. I thrust it open, and yelled, "What do you want?!" It was Bryan, and he simply glared at me. I glared at him in return. 'What is his problem? What a freak!' "Listen, Tala knew that I was up, okay? I'll be right down!" Anger rose in my voice, and anger flickered in my eyes.

"Listen, girl, we don't need your attitude right now! So, get your little butt down there, now!" My clenched fists weren't helping to keep down my anger. The urge to hit him was very strong. 'I can't hit him; I can't hit him; I can't hit him.' I repeated in my mind. "Your battling may be strong, but your body is weak! We will not tolerate any weakness on this team!" He yelled. My gaze was unsteady, and my glare was fierce. 'Weak? Weak, I'll show him weak!'

"Bryan, I'm not weak, and I'll show you how strong I am!" I raised my fist, and punched him in his head. Luckily for him, my death rings weren't on. Even still, he flew backwards slightly, and fell against the floor. I then quickly picked him up by the collar, and punched him again. A light of anger flickered in my icy eyes. I threw him against Tala's door, and slammed the door on his face. I then quickly placed my spikers, and chains and death rings on; and walked back out. Bryan was gone, and the sound of rushing water was heard from down the hallway. He came out of the bathroom as I walked by. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and noticed that he had a nice shiner on his right eye, and his nose had been bleeding. A faint purple mark was seen on his cheek, and he waited till I went by before continuing out.

I opened up the iron doors that led to the training room after 5 minutes of walking, and entered; still angry at Bryan. Bryan came a few minutes after me. Tala, Spencer, and Ian all looked up when we entered. At the sight of Bryan, Tala came towards him, "what happened to you, Bryan?" Bryan simply looked at me, and made no noise. Tala figured it out and smirked faintly at me. "Bryan, don't harass her anymore, unless you want another shiner." He then walked away from an enraged Bryan.

Spencer came over with Ian, and Ian started laughing. "Hey Bryan, nice shiner you got there!" Ian joked. Bryan glared at him, and followed Tala quickly. Spencer and Ian followed Bryan, with Ian still cracking jokes about Bryan. Eventually, Spencer gave Ian a look, warning him to stop, and Ian didn't say another word about Bryan for a little while at least.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: Innovative

After a full day's training, we retired to the dinning room. 'I need to perfect it, before the championship occurs. I need to…I must!' The thought engulfed me like no other has; the wish to perfect what was already perfect. The wanting to see the demise of everything in my path from the forces of my black 'blade. The darkness within myself and it was uncanny. 'I want to perfect it, I will never be sated as long as it is imperfect.' I sat down upon the black leather couch, still deeply in contemplation. My icy eyes closed whilst thinking. What seemed to me as mere minutes was more like hours to the rest of the world. Tala's strong hand gently but firmly came down upon my shoulder, waking me from my thoughts. His eyes were like darts, penetrating my soul. He nodded to me anyhow, and walked away as composed as ever. I still sat there, blankly wondering what signal he was trying to send to me without the use of words. Words…precious words…able to bring life and death…the key element in starting wars and ending them. Words are truly powerful things, part of the reason why grammar and English class' were the most important to me. Strong words can either place you at the end of a knife, or leave you alone in a dark alley. Those words are part of the reason why I'm not dead at the moment. Many people have attempted to try and kill me, but because of my…colourful language…I have managed to cling onto life as it is called. But, I have to wonder, is there more to life then staking a reputation, and striking fear intentionally into the heart's of others? Oh well, It doesn't matter either way, what matters is now, and not the future or the past.

I sat there for a few more hours, and only when I got up for water, did I notice the time. Glancing at the microwave above the stove told me that it was 12:13; thirteen minutes past midnight. I casually got my water from the black tap, and wandered over to the stairs with an indifferent air about me. My strides were short but quick, they were as silent as an owl flying over an icy terrain. The howling wind above the house hammered against the shingles of the house. Shuddering, I glanced up at the stairs. 'I haven't seen the rest of this house, might as well check it out when they're not awake.' I shrugged slightly, and continued in the direction I was walking before hand. The cream walls continued with me as I entered yet another room of the building. Glancing around sceptically as I made my way down the hallway.

The room I came upon was behind a locked door. 'How do I open a locked door…oh yeah…I can pick locks! But, there must be a reason for it to be locked, was it so that I couldn't get in? I'm not so sure I want to go in now. It could be an invasion of their trust, or it could be an opportunity of a life time to see what may be hidden underneath their cold exteriors.' I shakily placed my hand over the knob of the door; still engrossed in the inner turmoil inside my head. I bent down to the knob, so as to be directly in line with the lock. Looking through it, I discovered that it wasn't going to be an easy brake in. They must really not want me in. Or see what secretes it might hold. I instinctively brought my hand up to my hair tie, and pulled out a very thin knife; also called a senbon. I pushed it through the door handle, and slowly brought my ear up to the lock. I closed my eyes, and listened to every little click in the lock. Moving around the senbon slowly so as to not miss anything that could be vital to the opening of the door. Eventually, after focussing on the lock for a few minutes or so, the final click was heard. A small menacing smirk twisted upon my mouth. I opened my eyes, and quietly opened the door. I took out my senbon needle, and replaced it in my thick, brown hair. I placed an uncertain foot into the dark room. There were no lights on, but out of fear of being found out, I closed the door quietly behind me. It echoed as I did so, and so did my footsteps as I continued blindly. I found the wall, and ran my hand over it, searching for the light switch amidst the black. Upon not finding anything, I gave up my search. 'It's probably vain to be looking for one in this darkness.' An eerie feeling filled me as I proceeded farther into the room. My hands were out in front of me, trying to grasp whatever I could to help me through the shadows.

My hands suddenly reached something, it was a hard object. I felt my way along it, but after a while of it not ending, I gave up and stopped. My hands were shaking with excitement and anxiety. Everything around me was obscure. A great sigh parted my lips, and I gently leaned against the long object in front of me. I lightly brushed my fingers across the surface, but it wasn't a clear surface. It was littered with what seemed like keys, like the one's found upon a keyboard. I lightly pressed down on one of the keys, and to my surprise, the keys started to light up. My suspicions had been correct, they were computer keys. But, what kind of computer has light up keys? As the question hammered down on my brain, the giant computer with the light up keyboard started to do more then just light up. It started to make a noise; it sounded like a humming one can hear from re-booting a computer. I snapped my head up, and my unfaltering gaze was fixated on the screen above me. It had a long, green line across the black screen, and the line slowly expanded into something more. My eyes widened as the whole picture came into view. In front of me lay what looked like an x-ray of someone. As the image grew larger, showing more of what it was, the name appeared at the top left corner; Tala Valkov. On the other corner of the screen were large, bold printed words saying 'statistics'. 'What on earth…?' What lay before me was Tala, the same Tala that was the leader of my team, but the image was of his bones, his muscles, his organs. Luckily for me ,though, he did have underwear on.

At the side of it, where bars that had various colors differing the many bars from themselves. One of them read 'stress level', the red bar beneath it was rising quickly; telling me that his stress level was rising tremendously. 'why is this here? Who made this?' another read 'strength', and the green bar was stable, meaning that his strength was neither falling or rising. I gawked at it for a very long time, and as the minutes stretched by, the time I had before they got up and found me, was quickly disappearing. There was a clock on the far, bottom right corner, by the time I glanced at it, it was already 2: 47 in the morning. Fear struck me solidly, and I slowly backed away from it. 'how do I get it back to how it was before I touched it?' the thought quickly left as quickly as it came in. I backed out, without taking my gaze away from the screen in front of me. I accidentally bumped into something, but I took no notice of it until it finally crashed onto the floor. Small pieces of glass were spread across the cement floor. Some shards flew from the ground from the impact and sliced into my skin. I winced from it as the searing pain ripped across my arms, legs, and stomach. The glass was unusually sharp, so it tore through my clothing easily. Blood seeped through my clothing through the tares, and with the largely expanding blood, my eyes expanded as well; blood scares me. I managed to stop the scream that was dieing to get out of my mouth, and clamped my hand over top of my mouth. I quickly turned around, and limped back to the door. I fiddled around for the door knob, and quickly found it, I turned the knob, and slipped out as silently and quickly as possible. It shut slowly, which only made the small pieces of glass get deeper embedded into my skin.

I winced as I took off down the hallway and back towards the stairs. As I limped up them, I felt unusually dizzy, and stopped halfway up. Glancing down at the blood running down my body didn't help me either, it made me feel ever more sick and dizzy. I placed a shaky hand on the railing, and knelt down on my knees. My breath came out as shallow gasps now. 'Just get the thought of blood out of your head! It's not that hard! Don't look at it, don't feel it!' I tried as hard as I could to stop the feeling of blood trickling down my body in small amounts, I tried to forget about the pain running throughout my being, I tried to forget the immense fear of blood that consumed me; I tried to forget everything, but failed in the attempt. I was now gasping for breath as the fear consumed my entire mind. Blood was dripping down my arm and onto the wooden stairs below me in small pools. I grasped my arm, and remained on the stairs for a long while. Eventually, it was hard to breath, and I slowly attempted to get up and continue up those stairs. I shakily managed to clamber up them, and slowly made my way towards my room. The trail of blood that was dripping from me was faintly seen on the wooden floors. My view was blurry and suddenly, it was hard to focus on anything. I managed to get to my door, and opened the door in front of me.

My room was black, but there was nothing in my path to make me stumble. I stumbled anyways as my fear was starting to take a toll on me. I crashed onto my bed, and my eyes closed slowly. In my vain attempt to stay conscious, I managed to remember that Tala's stress level was climbing, but why was it climbing? Those were my last thoughts, as I slowly drifted to unconsciousness. My body lay limp on my bed, and my cuts were left unattended, making them sore, and much worse then they were. The small bits of glass remained in my body, and the bleeding continued slowly. As the darkness consumed my mind, I was left helpless to everything around me.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter twenty one:Unwined

Tala's POV

I woke up quickly as sweat poured down my pale face. I had been dreaming that Kiko was in danger, or at least it looked like her, it could have been anyone. Nevertheless, they were in danger, and so was I if I tried to help whom ever it was. What was I supposed to do for them? If it hurt me, and they were in pain, there was nothing I could possibly do but watch as they suffer in their silence. Who ever it was, they were lying in a pool of crimson blood, the pool had encircled around the person, and they did nothing but lay still in it.

As fear washed over me once more as I thought about it again, I realized that it wasn't the right time to be awake; I did have a long day of training ahead of myself. So, I laid back down, and closed my icy eyes. A few moments later, my eyes snapped open again. I tried countless times before I realized that it was impossible for me to fall asleep. I sighed in defeat, and stared up blankly at the ceiling. The thoughts continued to swirl around me, therefore my eyes weren't seeing, and my ears weren't hearing. I failed to notice the straining sounds coming up from the stairs; the laboured breathing coming towards me; the weak footsteps leaving the hallway; and the crashing of a body against a wooden floor.

I'm not sure when I did wake from my comatose state, either way I woke up to the pounding on my door. 'What do they want now?' I lazily glanced at my clock, the red letters clearly stated that it was 3:30 am. 'It's not time to wake up yet, then why would they-' my thoughts were interrupted when someone thrust open the door, damaging the lock on it. They ran in and stumbled through the room because of their quickened speed. They finally reached my bedside, and fumbled around for the lamp beside me. I casually flicked on the light, that soon filled out my room. Bryan stood before me, and Spencer was at the doorway. The light from my lamp blinded me, so I squinted trying to gain some sort of definition as to why they were here and why they had brought down my door. But, nothing had entered my mind that was an excuse for their actions. I was about to raise my voice to them, but they interrupted me before hand.

"Tala sir, it's Kiko chan, she's injured badly and won't wake up!" My eyes grew wider as they spoke. 'What do they mean? How could she have…' As in answering my thoughts, Spencer calmly came towards me. His olive eyes were filled with worry as his emotionless face showed no sign of it. He was right at my side now, and his hands were behind his back, and they slowly came up to his chest and crossed over each other.

"We heard something crash downstairs, and then thumping came up here. We heard a door slam, and then we made our way out of the door to find the source of the crash," he waited a minute to catch his thoughts, and then continued, "it turns out that the door to your…computer…was left open and when we turned on the lights…" He stopped there, as he saw the shear horror written in my eyes. 'She didn't…did she?' Bryan pushed Spencer aside, and quickly took my arm. His grip was steely, and his gaze was fierce.

I got the message this time: something was indeed wrong, and Kiko chan was hurt. I nodded slightly to them, as I was slightly surprised that they would be so up front with me; they never are. My team doesn't joke around, they don't have fun, they don't talk to me, and they don't talk to each other. Besides when we train, we never see each other. I don't know my team very well, and have no friends at all. I treat them as they should be treated; without any respect at all. They were lower than I, why should I care if I hurt their feelings and make them cry? Pain only makes us stronger, and friendships weigh us down; but then why did that Granger kid defeat us? How did we lose? If we followed what we were meant to to make us stronger…the strongest…then how did we lose?

I shook my head and tried to erase the thoughts in my head; I need to think of her now. I slowly got up out of my warm and comfortable bed. Bryan and Spencer both backed up and their gaze retreated to the floor. I, being a boy and all, was wearing my boxers and socks to keep my feet warm. Maybe I was the only one who did this? No matter, the thing that needed to have thought about was Kiko chan. What I was wearing didn't matter for the moment. "Um, sir, you should maybe at least gets…pants on." Spencer spoke uncertainly. My surprised look gaze away my feelings right then; which didn't help me concerning the situation. Me, in my green underwear, showing emotion; all bad things for me. No one sees my emotions, as few as they are, and no one sees me dressed like this…ever! But, I digress, I did as was asked, and threw on a pair of my white pants. I then followed Bryan and Spencer out of my door, and into her room.

It was rather cold in her room. Ian was beside her, desperately trying to wake her up by jabbing her side. My eyes quickly analysed her wounds from where I was standing, her side was bleeding, as were her arms and her legs. I calmly walked up to where the two people were, and clamped my hand on top of Ian's shoulder. "Ian, that's enough!" My voice boomed loudly in the room, and Ian jumped slightly when he heard it. Ian turned to face me, and then quickly got out of the way. I gently picked her frail and limp body up, and gently placed her on her bed. 'why was she left on the floor? Those cuts are deep, she should have been taken care of immediately.' My eyes scanned over her once more, before turning back to my team. "Get the first aid kit, now!" Bryan quickly nodded, and ran out of the door. The sound of his footsteps was still heard as he ran down the stairs.

My attention then came to the other two, "now, for you two, you need to get a cloth and a bowl of luke warm water." the nodded, and dashed out the door. I turned back to her, and stood there wondering what we should do. 'She's a girl, anything I do can be deformed into something perverted, so this will be rather challenging. How do we get to the cuts on her sides? That could easily be miss-read by anyone if not done correctly. What on earth was she doing to cause this much damage? Humph, she probably slammed into something and got cut up, maybe a plate or a window. But, if it were a window, the alarm would have gone off…then what could have…' Memory came back as what Spencer had said rang through my head again, 'she was in that room wasn't she? But, that room is locked and is too heavy for any girl to open by herself…did she get help by someone? No, they wouldn't dare try that. What did she see? What does she think of me now? This could turn out very badly, everything could turn out badly. I guess it is what I deserve though, for being as I am. I'm not meant to have the slightest hope of happiness, nor am I allowed any kind of space or peace. No, I'm meant to die alone as I was born alone. No one will ever see me as human, they'll only see a freak, a monster, a horrible person, a leader, someone to be feared. No one will ever see the true me, and I don't think anyone wants to as well.' As I stood there watching over her quietly, I failed to notice that her right arm was twitching; signalling that she was to wake soon.

Spencer, Bryan, and Ian came back quickly, and were at my side with the items I requested. I began to scrutinize her; what are we going to do? "Tala sir, she did go into that room, so it might be wise to ask her how she got inside?" Ian's voice was small and shaking slightly. But, the last comment was the last straw for my patience. I quickly turned on my heel and glared down at him. I then reached down, and picked him up from his collar. He was now face to face with me. He was filled with fear; the thing I have built up for so long. And I was filled with hate; the thing that didn't take forever to grasp.

"You think I don't know that already, Ian?" I hissed, "do you think you're wiser than I?" Ian shook his head. "Then I suggest you don't talk to me about being 'wise', got it?" He nodded, and I placed him down on the ground, and turned back to face Kiko chan. "Give me the water and cloth," I ordered. They did as I said, and stood behind me awkwardly. I carefully placed the water on her side table, and dunked the cloth into it. I gently dabbed at her wounds, and attempted to get the glass out; this was not working. I was only making it worse, she will be in a lot of agony when she wakes.

I continued to gently dab at her wounds. The blood surrounding them was slowly leaving her pale, soft skin. I closed my eyes for a little while, then opened them quickly after. 'I need to keep on getting this blood away'. I did as I thought was best. 'Should I be the one to do this? After what she has seen…she might hate me for being what I am. I am a mutant after all. I'm not human, I shouldn't even be considered as part human; I'm a monster. I'm a freak, a mutant, a monster, a loser; that is what I am. I will be nothing more, and nothing less. I am the lowest scum on this earth, never to be accepted or loved.' Suddenly, her eyes twitched. I drew a quick breath in; hoping that she doesn't wake. What would she think if she found me like this?' I thought sullenly.

To my dismay, she slowly did open her icy blue eyes. I loomed over her, uncertain of what to do. 'Should I stay by her side and wait for her to say of which I hate? Should I wait to see the fear in her eyes? What should I do? I should leave, and hope to be forgotten.' These thoughts and more filled my head; so much that I failed to notice her opened eyes watching me calmly. Bryan, Spencer, and Ian had all left and closed the door behind them. It was me and her alone in this partially empty room; the window on the far wall was open, explaining why it was so cold in here. The cold drafts that entered where chilling me to the bone.

I'm not sure when I did notice that she was awake, but whenever it was, it was apparent that she was waiting for something from me. "Tala sempai…why are you…looming over me?" Her icy eyes were hard to read; they didn't say fear, nor hate. But, of something else, something even I can't describe or understand. The things I never expected came, and the things that I wanted did not. Instead, I got cold heartedness, not showing love, nor hate. I stood there, blinking in complete and totally confusion. Confusion; something that didn't occur to me easily unless I thought of the past.

The past; my past, it haunted my every being. It gave me Goosebumps and made me want to hide, to be held tightly; something which was also foreign to me. I have never been held by someone before, I have never felt the reassurance that I would be alive the next day. The Abbey had taught me many things, and many were not necessarily good. The one thing it taught me was: always fear for your life, and never show emotion. They also told me that I was nothing and will never amount to anything. That no one would love me, and nothing would ever stay with me. Boris; the man who ran the place, had hammered the fact that I was not worth anyone's time, and that the world would be better if I had just died the day they brought me there, to that dump. I was not to love anyone, so that I would never get emotionally hurt by some girl…that I was taught were all weak.

As her icy eyes remained on me un-moving, al thoughts of her being weak escaped me, and only the thought of how beautiful she was, was left. And suddenly, the fear of her leaving the team had filled me; would she leave because of me? I don't want her to leave, I feel like she could be the difference between us losing or us winning. "Kiko chan, you got hurt downstairs when you were…" I shut my eyes for a little while, and then opened them a few moments later, "when you were in my room…where my computer is…" Her eyes seemed to dull a little, and she turned her head away.

'Did I say something wrong? Or, did I scare her because I now know…' Remembering that she had found my room and gotten in somehow, it didn't bother me or worry me, or even get me angry. Her gaze then returned to me, with the same dullness in it.

"Tala sempai, why was your stress level rising? It…worries me…" I said nothing in response, and my gaze strayed from her to the ground. "Tala sempai, are you angry at me?" Her voice shook with fear. I knew it; she is scared of me. My eyes closed, and my fists grew clenched. "Tala sempai, I am so sorry for going in there, I know it was very wrong of me to do so. Tala sempai, if you are angry at me, please say so, please?" Her eyes were begging me now, and so was her voice. It was slowly growing more quiet as she talked. It shook, and it sounded so pathetic, that I dared look up into her eyes.

I stopped. Her eyes, her eyes were something different. They told a story of pain and sadness. Of strength and courage. And, then something else, something I could not read. My emotions of anger left me, and only the emotions of forgiveness came forth from somewhere that I never knew existed. "It's alright, Kiko chan, I'm not angry, not anymore." Her eyes then relaxed, and so did the rest of her body. Her thin body, her soft eyes; no, don't think like that! I still didn't know what was causing me to become stressed, and hopefully, it doesn't come back what ever it was. "why does my stress level worry you?" I desperately wanted to ask her what she thought of me now…but I'm not entirely sure I want to know.

She smiled almost softly up at me, and her eyes seemed less dull. "Because, you are my team leader, are you not?" I nodded slightly to her. I grew amazed by how her eyes seemed to light up with happiness so quickly. It was remarkable honestly. How her eyes seemed to grow to a different shade of blue, an electric blue in fact. So happy and honest were her eyes. And suddenly, in that fleeting moment, I felt at peace and felt that I could tell her everything about me, my secretes, my fears, my weaknesses, and that she would understand them and accept them. I feel like she could accept me, and treat me like I'm human. Like she could joke around with me, and be my friend, the first one in my whole life.

We talked for a little bit more, and then I told her that she should rest. But, before I left, I asked her, "what do you think of me now that you know what I am?" She gave me a confused look, and cocked her head slightly. "I'm not human, not a normal human at least." Her eyes were just as soft as ever, and no fear seemed to leak into them.

"Tala sempai, I don't care what you are, it is who you are that matters." She then smiled, and laid back down on her bed. I nodded slightly, and calmly walked to the door. I opened it slowly and quietly, and placed one foot outside the door.

I turned my head slightly so that she could only see part of my face, "good night" I said, and calmly left the room. I closed the door behind me with a cold exterior pasted onto my face. I went over to my room, and entered it quietly. I went to my bed, and laid down on it. 'she doesn't care what I am, just who I am…nothing like that has ever been said to the likes of me, why?' I pondered on this for what seemed endless. The night was endless, and I still needed to be awake at 7. I sighed to myself, and got up again. I left my room, and calmly went to each of my team member's. I told all of them that we were not going to train that morning. Afterwards, I went back to my room, and disarmed my alarm clock. I then thought more and more about her, until I slowly drifted off to a peaceful sleep. She had remained in my thoughts that whole night, never had a girl been in my mind before. It was a new experience for me, and it worried me slightly, and calmed me slightly. But, soon I was asleep, and no thoughts overcame me then. Only dreams of the Abbey and how it tortured me, and then, of her, and it grew calming and relaxing.

Author note: This chapter was long...well not really but, the longest I've posted I believe! Keee! Tala is so awesomely sweet, I love writting on his POV (point of view). It is so, hard, and very very nerving, but it is worth it in the end. I personally like this one, especailly one...no...a few of the paragrphs are so cool! I was writting it, and online, and I was hyper right? But after I wrote it I ecame so depressed and angry, it was awesome! Mwahaha! Please review it for me! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW IT! It worries me when people don't you know? Mm...anyways...please keep reading, I can't wait to start the next chapter!


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter twenty two: Past and Present

I awoke in the silence of the early morning. My body ached and I felt emotionally numb. I was greeted by the emptiness of this darkened room. Slowly, I managed to get up from my bed, and sat straight up awaiting for something or someone to jump out and yell at me. Nothing came. A sigh passed my thin lips, and my eyes closed tiredly. What was I still doing here? In this empty place filled with empty faces filled with empty voices and empty words. Nothing seemed real here, and nothing seemed true. It was beyond normality; and I could not take it anymore! It was because of that aspect, that very aspect of my being, that had caused me to leave my home in the first place. I shuddered slightly, and leaned back down. Thoughts and emotions alien to me consumed me like it had many times before. I drifted off to a very nerving sleep. I grew restless, and began saying random sayings in my sleep unbeknownst to me.

Flash Back

I dreamt of my old family, my old home, my old friends, and of everything that I had left behind. I remembered the hated words heaved at me. Their eyes that screamed of hatred and fear. My brothers, my six older brothers that I had accumulated from my step father. He will never be anything to me! My mother had married some man whom I barely knew, and who hated me dearly. He had six boys of his own from a previous marriage. All of my brothers' hated me, and my 'family' soon moved away from the town that I had known forever and had loved forever. I never had a chance to say good bye to all of my friends, and when I returned for a week there; it turns out that they hated me too. When I was there, I had met some people on-line, they were very nice, and sometimes it seemed like they knew what I'd say before I said it. They soon became my only friends in the world. One, came from America, another came from Japan, the last one came from China.

My 'family' moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, but I hated it there. It was windy and had too much condensation in the air. So, I began beyblading, and soon found out that my friends on-line did that too. They were part of a team, and I wasn't then. I quickly found the beyblading people around the area, and we came up with a team. We were all shady, trench coat wearing, alley lurking, knife and gun holding people. We didn't care what people felt about us, or what was said on the headlines of newspapers. I, was dubbed the leader, as I was the strongest and the most dangerous. I always carried a gun and a knife on my person, which made me a formidable foe. With my many trench coats, people often gave me weary looks. They always left me alone. My team mates even left me alone when I had gotten angry. My poetry had taken to a new level there, and so did my writing. The night was my only, true friend, and I was slowly loosing contact with my other friends on-line. I guess I was scared that if they knew who I was, that they might leave me alone, and grow to hate me like the rest of the world does already. Soon, our team became invincible, and we came to Quebec and won the championships. Afterwards, our team broke up, and I remained a lurker in the depths of Nova Scotia's alleys.

One day, the local mail boy came by, and gave me such an evil glance, that I with drew inside my house. I had wondered what it was about, but shrugged it off fifteen minutes later. I had been running late for school, so I ignored the newspaper. I ran out of the house in my normal clothing attire, and soon became aware as I drew closer to school, that people were treating me with more fear and weariness than ever before. As I came up my school's steps, the principle acknowledged me, and stopped my entrance into the building. The bell screeched, and the sound of fast closing doors slamming shut was heard. The principle blandly told me that I was no longer a part of this school, as being a killer wasn't someone they wanted to be there. I was confused as he slammed the doors on my face, so I slowly made my way back to my house.

As I sauntered into my house, strange looks arose from my brothers'. My mother was weeping into her arms, and my step father was stroking her hair. The newspaper was at my mom's side. I closed the door softly, and slowly made my way towards the stairs to my room. I was soon stopped by my father swearing at me, in an enraged voice. He then came up to me, and struck me with such force, that I fell backwards and slammed into the wall behind me. A thin blood trail came from my mouth as he continued to yell at me in very colourful language. All that I heard from between the language, was him calling me a disgrace to the family, a monster, a freak, a mutant. Everything under the sun that resembled a monster or a freak. I soon got irritable, and yelled more colourful language at him. He then struck me again and again. My mouth was now a large trail of blood, draining from my lip and mouth. My nose had started to bleed as well. The thick crimson color was running down the temple of my head and all over my body. I remember placing my shaky hand on my head, and bringing it back so that I could see it, only to discover that my whole hand was covered in a scarlet color that reeked of metal. It made me feel like puking, and I did so on my step father's shoes. I clutched my stomach in agony, and by then, I was keeled over on the ground. My step father continued beating me, till I was barely conscious. He then gave a signal to my brothers to carry me up stairs to my room. They did so, and roughly threw me onto the floor. I was curled up in a fedall position. I closed my eyes, and drifted to sleep.

Later on that night, I regained consciousness, and wandered down stairs slowly, I managed to read the letters of the newspaper article on the front. It read: Body found of member of championship Canadian team. My eyes grew wider as the picture showed the body of my former team mate, his street name was Vermilion. He had shoulder length hair that was dark red, and he wore trench coats as well as I. He had been shot, that I found out by reading it. They suspected us, his team mates. But, I knew that I didn't kill him, and Damask surely didn't either. She hated killing as she saw her brother die in front of her. Why would we kill him anyways? We had no reason. But, I couldn't blame them for thinking it was us. Was this the reason behind my beatings? I never found out, because, it was the last straw. I quickly packed my trench coats, and everything that was important to me. I left my house and my family, and left to join Russia. I wanted to leave this nightmare behind, and begin a new life, with people that didn't know who I was. I left to Quebec, and managed to get on a plane to Russia. They let me on, because they had cleared my name and found out the real killer. But, non of that mattered now, just the fact that my family believed the tabloids about me was enough to fuel me away from them forever.

End Flash Back

I suddenly snapped out of my dream, and awoke to sweat pouring down my face. Sweat was all over my body. I slowly sat up in bed, and placed my warm hand on my forehead. I now had a fever. There soon came the soft pattering of water on my window. It reverberated throughout my empty room. My lights were off, and the lightening lit up the place surrounding me in darkness. The rain continued to pelt the house, my new house. As the memories of my past filtered through my mind, so did the resentment and hurt that came from them. I think I loved them, but whenever that emotion comes, it leaves just as easily. It has always amazed me, how hate comes to easily, and love comes from time taken to abide to one's own laws and restrictions. Love, yes, it is restricting, and it harms me the most. I lifted my head to my ceiling, and thought: will anyone ever love me?

Thunder was heard overhead, and immediately snapped me from my ever present thoughts of remorse. My bangs covered my eyes, and shielding my face. The crashing sounds overhead did much to hide the sounds of pain escaping from my mouth. The pain of losing a loved one, the pain of being wronged for something I never did. As the tears slid down my pale face, the only thing to keep my company from the total weight of my pain, was the rain hounding itself overhead.

Meanwhile, unknown to me, Tala was leaning against the door that led to my room. He had listened to everything that was going on inside. His alert ears picked up the crying sounds escaping me quietly. He couldn't do anything, but lean there and hope for the hated noise to cease. As he closed his eyes, painful flashbacks came forth from the depths of his mind. Memories of pain, of what he thought was home. Of how he was made, and everyone who had ridiculed him. Nothing could heal his everpresent wounds, no one could see them either. Even if they could, they would leave him in his own shadows, even if they could see them, they wouldn't know how to help him, to make his fears go away. He regretfully got up from leaning, and went over to his room. He quietly slipped inside, and remained in there to cry with his hearts content.

And as the rain pelted rhythmically against the house and surrounding areas, it washed away debris unfathomable to anyone such as I. But, it didn't cease to wipe away their fears and sorrow; for that would take a storm. The sun was blotted out against the grey and black sky. The ground was littered in rain drops that threatened to take it away, to another world unknown to it. The thunder didn't bring serenity, it brought pain. The lightening did little to light the darkness in their hearts that night, a brighter light is needed to clear that part of them. The night, the darkness that the storm brought, did little to hide them, only their hearts of stone and glass could hide away such a pain from the eyes of wandering fools. No one knew the key to their hearts, except for them, the wielder of the key.

The next day

The sun was back, and shinning as if nothing had ever happened. Kiko chan was sitting comfortably on her bed, her knees were brought up to her chest in a defence way; as if this would help keep the nightmares away. Her head lay on her arms, and her arms were on her knees. Her hair limply fell over her pale face, and the blinds were now shut against the shinning sky.

Tala was laying down in his bed, his eyes were open, but not seeing. He listened to the inner voice of his, telling him what he thought was true, but in turn, were lies. Apparently, his pain never went away either.

Eventually, I came down the stairs, not wanting them to pound down my door like last time. I went into the kitchen with lifeless eyes. My hair was flat against my face as well. Tala wasn't there when I sat down, but, Bryan, Spencer, and Ian were. All three looked up when I approached timidly. They're eyes were not filled with remorse for me for what I did the other night. That took me aback, no one had ever not been filled with that when I did something wrong. My eyes had no life in them anymore; it might never come back, either. As I sat there pondering over why they weren't angry, I failed to notice the eerie silence enveloping the area. Soon, it finally clicked into me. I lifted my head, and searched their stone faces. (no, they are not on drugs! ) I looked back down, and continued to bludgeon myself with hateful words. Soon, the silence was breached, "Kiko…chan…" Ian gallantly said. His feeble voice was shaking, and his eyes were focused on the floor. I looked up at him, and waited patiently for him to continue. "What…what do you think of…Tala…sama…now?" My startled gaze made them appear surprised as well.

'what do I think of him? I think of him as more strong than I had thought before.' I thought quietly. The silence continued, and they still waited. They became at the edge of their seats just waiting for my answer. "I…I think that he is much stronger, than I had ever thought of, before I went inside…of that room." they nodded slightly, and the silence came back.

Tala eventually came down, but he didn't say anything, but yet just sat down, and avoided eye contact. After what seemed like years, a knocking was heard. Tala got up reluctantly, and slowly trailed towards the door. Spencer, Ian, Bryan and I, all followed him quietly. He slowly opened the door, and with lifeless eyes, opened it. But, as soon as he set eyes on the man outside the door, his eyes grew wide with fear and hate. The man standing there had haunted him all of his life, and was soon to haunt my own. Spencer, Ian, and Bryan all knew him, too well in fact. This man, is the cause to their misfortunes. He had destroyed all sources of life and happiness; for this man, was Boris, the man who helped run the Biovolt Abbey.

author not: Please review! Please, plase please! I will continue to beg for reviews, unless you send them! Wahahahahaha! Poor you! PLEASE REVIEW ME! I YEARN FOR THE ESSANCE OF REVIEWS! Ke! Bye bye! The next one, will hopfully, be longer! This one is still short! blech, aw well! Bye!


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter twenty three: Biovolt Abbey

A shudder ran up my spin as I gazed up at him. His purple hair, the goggles on his head to hide his eyes, his smug grin, everything. He looked so old and evil at the same time; he looked around his 40's. I stood there gawking, but the rest of my team stood there with cold glares on their faces. 'Why had he come here? Has he come to make amends?' I thought stupidly. Before then, I had never set eyes on this man, and didn't even know he existed. So, to finally set eyes on him for the first time in my life, I wondered why the Blitzkriegboys' were so afraid of him.

As I was lost in thought, he simply nodded, and five men came in and grabbed us roughly. The one that grabbed me seemed uncertain to do it; I guess his mother taught him well to not hit girls. Nonetheless, his fear of Boris was stronger, and he brought my arms backwards; exactly how the arrest people, but without the hand cuffs. He said something in rough Russian, and pushed me forward and out of the house. His hands were callused and his breathing was rank. He had on a thick black jacket that came down to his feet. He wore black boots with white fur at the top rims.

As I glanced around, hoping to seek help from my team, I saw them being thrown into a dark van. I also realized that the man leading me was taking me away from them. Alarm screamed out to me, as the thought of where I was going and being separated from them overcame me. I struggled against the man's grasp, but only made him angry and made him tighten his grip on my small wrists. He gripped me so hard, that it started to hurt. I winced slightly from the pain searing up my arms, but I never gave them the satisfaction of seeing my pain. After a few minutes of struggling, Boris came over to me, and said something in quick Russian to the man who was holding me. He nodded, and let me go. Just as I thought I was being let free, Boris took my hand roughly, and slapped me with his other hand. The loud sound of leather slapping against flesh reverberated through the quiet area. All was quiet then. After that, I gave him my best cold glare, only to have him hit me again. He then started to yell at me gruffly. Eventually, he led me towards a black car, and threw me inside rather forcefully. I winced slightly as my back hit the hard seat. My legs were sprawled out awkwardly, and he slammed the door shut. My face stung from where he hit me, I was sure that there was a red mark on me now.

Boris started yelling outside, and slammed his fist against the car, the driver then started the engine; which roared to life rather quickly, and drove off. I'm not sure how long we were driving for; all I know was that thoughts of anger and worry filtered through my head. I kept silent the whole way there. Soon, the car stopped, and the driver got out, and opened the door for me. The driver then impolitely grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the car. He then put tape over my mouth to keep me from talking or screaming or something like that. The cold wind outside whipped against my frail body, the cold was starting to numb my body. 'I swear, if it gets any colder, I'm going to freeze!' I thought wearily. The driver didn't wait for me to get up after he had dragged me out of the car, and continued to drag me across the hard cement ground. I winced slightly as it scraped against my shins, making them hurt and possibly bleed. He dragged me towards the stairs, and once we reached them, the other van joined us. The driver stopped, and waited by the stairs. I was still sitting on the ground in much pain from being hit, and then dragged across the cement ground.

Boris came out of the van, and opened the back of it. Four men went into it, and came back out forcing my team with them. They glanced at me with sadness in their eyes; something I never expected to see from them all. They were all being held back the same way I was, but they were standing up, and not sitting down. They also had tape over their mouths; was this so secret that they needed to make sure that nothing went wrong? Why did this man need us? Where were we? What was going to happen to us, and how does my team know these people? All of those questions and more buzzed around my head for quite some time. Eventually though, Boris came up to us, and motioned for us to go inside. The man holding me captive nodded, and resumed dragging me. I was positive now that I was bleeding, I could feel it slowly making its way down my leg. It made me squirm more than anything else; just having that sensation of something thick flowing steadily down your leg makes one do that.

We were dragged down the hallway, and the sound of closing doors behind us echoed. Everything in here echoed, from the sound of their footsteps, to our breathing and our being dragged. This floor didn't hurt as much; it still did, just not as much. The floors were dirty and were consisted of bricks. It was rough and uneven as well. There was dirt all over the place, and it was cold and damp. The musty smell of it all filled my nostrils, making me want to puke. I glanced up at my team, only to find them unemotional; as if they had been here before. The thought worried me, so I banished it from my thoughts. Soon, we came to a more open room, where the man holding me dropped me and left the area. The sound of doors being closed again filled the area. I glanced over at my team, only to find them still being held.

Boris started talking, and pretty soon, that was the only sound heard in that room. The sound of his rasping voice was enough to scare all of the rats away. His voice could scare the whole world! It was filled with so much evil and disdain; his eyes are probably filled with the same things. The only other sound in this room was of a steady dripping of water from the high ceiling above us. 'What is he saying? Why is it so cold in here? Is he going to hit me again?'

We stood there for at least half an hour in complete silence, just listening to his harsh voice. He then sighed, and motioned for someone. That person came, and Boris spoke something very low to him. He nodded, and came towards me. He had glittering green eyes, and black hair. His hair came down to his shoulders, and looked rather messy. He grabbed my arm forcibly, and brought me up to my feet. I stood there shaking slightly, with my icy eyes helping my facade of indifference. His eyes were scrutinizing me as I stood there with a challenging stance. Boris continued to ramble on and on about absolutely nothing. Tala, Bryan, Spencer, and Ian all looked like soldiers in the way that they stood straight backed and with solemn looks on their faces. They all looked the same, with the same amount of rage and hatred in their eyes. I looked away from them quickly, and focussed on staring at the ground beneath my feet.

Boris soon stopped yelling at us, and said something in low Russian once more. He then smirked darkly at us, and turned his back to us. Then suddenly from behind us, the men grabbed our arms once again, and forced us back to where we came. Boris yelled out something more, and the men holding us nodded. They then shoved us down the black hallway. Their hands were so hard and rough, and they never spoke a word. They quickly came to another hallway that branched off from the main one. I kept my eyes lowered and never saw which way we were going, or who was following behind me. I heard the sounds of footsteps behind me, which were the guy's forcing me down the hallway, but there were two other sets of footsteps as well. Where had the rest of my team gone? I wondered. I'm not sure when it was, but the guy holding me hostage stopped walking, and brought out a ring of keys from his pocket; he then un-locked the door to my right. I heard the bolt un-locking, and then heard the swinging of the door. It was soon open, and he then took my shoulders gruffly and pushed me inside. I fell hard against the cold hard ground. The other guy trailing behind us threw his captive inside with me. They then quickly closed the door, and locked it behind them. It was quiet except for the faint sounds of their footsteps retreating.

The room was pitch black, and it smelled musty. The air was also damp and cold. 'Is it possible that the outside was warmer than in here? Wow.' I thought solemnly. I was sprawled across the cold damp floor in an un-natural way. My shins still hurt from being dragged so much, and my cheek was finally not stinging. My hands hurt a little too from being grabbed too tightly. It suddenly dawned on me that someone else was in here with me, and I wasn't sure who it was. I could hear their laboured breathing beside me, and yet, so far away. My hands were shaking, and so was my body; so I guessed that my voice would be shaking as well. I slowly cocked my head in hopes of being able to hear who ever it was better. I slowly began to crawl over to them; it pained me so much to do so as the wounds on my shins were rather painful. The blood was still trailing down them steadily, which worried me somewhat. I groped around blindly in the dark searching for them. After a little while of searching, the pain on my legs hurt too much to continue. I stopped, and decided to ask where they were so that my search wouldn't be in vain. The coldness of the room was making my body numb as well; so my body was in a lot of pain. I sat there silently, and my breathing rasped slowly. "Um, who is in here with me?" I asked with a shaky voice.

Who ever sat there in the dark with me stirred a little bit, but made no sound, "please, tell me who you are?" I repeated again with more urgency this time. The silence was unbearable and was starting to frighten me somewhat. Tears began to take form in my eyes, so I quickly brushed them away with my arm. When I was brushing my tears away, I caught the faint smell of blood. I replaced my arm near my nose again, only to discover that my arms had cuts all over them; my arm stank like blood. 'It must have been from when he dragged me, how did I not notice this?' I thought to myself. I waited for the answer to come from the person in here with me, but my efforts of communication were in vain.

It took a while for me to ask again, but this time, I got a reply, "Tala Valkov, but I'm sure that you don't wish to speak to me." His voice sounded hoarse and weak. It made me want to go over to him and hug him tightly. I shook my head 'no' in the dark and crawled over to him once more. I followed the sound of his voice and his breathing, and soon was right beside him. He seemed to shrink away from me as he realized that I was so close to him. I gently reached out and placed my hand on his shoulder. My hand wasn't on his shoulder tightly, as I wasted all of my energy on fighting the men away from me; which was also in vain. My light touch seemed to stop him from moving any farther away from me.

"T-Tala, please don't go. I do want you here with me; I could never ask you to go." I said weakly. He made no reply, but came back to my side. I sighed, relieved that he came back. "Tala, I don't hate you, so please stay with me." I pleaded softly, "I have no idea what is going on in here, and I don't know why either. I don't know where I am, and what we'll be doing in the future." He listened to me silently in the dark. Soon, a wave of dizziness came over me, and I wavered slightly. The cold in here was beginning to be too much for me to handle; I cannot stand the cold. My shins and arms had stopped bleeding, but I could no longer feel them. This had gotten me worried as to what was going on in my body as well. While I was deep in thought, I failed to notice that I was slowly beginning to lean towards him. I finally took notice when I had completely fallen over on him. I felt him jump slightly, and then calm down.

"Kiko chan...Are you feeling well?" I gave no reply, and just leaned against him quietly. He slowly reached up towards my forehead, and placed his hand over it. He sighed slightly, and his hand retreated. "You don't have a fever, but it is rather cold in here. After what happened yesterday, your body isn't probably well enough to endure this as much." I nodded slightly to his words. Then him and I sat there in silence. After a while, I regained some of my strength, and managed to stop leaning against him. He was really warm, and had kept me warm, but I doubt he'd want me to lean on him when I could sit on my own now. I felt his gaze on me, and looked up at what I thought must be his direction.

A few hours later

We still sat in silence, and all of the questions bouncing around in my head remained there. But, after a while, I soon wanted to ask them. But, I wasn't sure if he'd answer them or not. I sighed slowly, and remained silent. Eventually, Tala shifted in his place, but other than that, no sound was made between us. 'I think I'm going to ask him, if he doesn't answer, then it's my loss of words. But, if I can somehow get even a little bit closer to him than before, then I'll be happy. I'm going to try; at least no one can say I lost if I do.'

"Tala..." I said weakly and slowly. My voice was quiet and unsure in itself. He made a weird moaning sound that sounded like 'nn?' which I took as 'yes?' "Um, where are we?" It grew silent for a moment, and then he answered saying,

"The place I grew up, the Biovolt Abbey." I was startled a little bit. This was where he grew up? No wonder they looked like soldiers! It grew silent again, it was rather awkward. The sound of water dripping from the ceiling in a steady rhythm, it clinked against the hard, brick ground. Soon, I had enough courage to ask another question,

"Is this where you were mutated?" I asked quietly. I felt his body tense up, and so did the air around us. I knew that it was a touchy subject, but I wanted to know!

After a while, he replied, "yes, this is where I was...mutated." I nodded slowly to him, and still the tension was there.

"Why does he want us here?" Tala didn't reply quickly, but he eventually shrugged his shoulders to me. I nodded slightly, and decided to keep quiet for a while. He sighed deeply, and it caught my attention once more. "Tala san, I want to know more about you, but I'm scared to ask you something that might be too uncomfortable." My voice was barely above a whisper, but it didn't matter, it was so silent in here, you could hear a pin drop. Tala remained silent for a while, and then sighed to himself after a while.

"I was raised here when I was a child. I have no memory of my parents or even having any parents; as far as I know, they're dead. I had been taught from a young age to be the best no matter who you have to trample on. So, I did that; I took the power given to me from my bit beast, and only relied on that. I didn't need anyone else, and no one needed me. Some resented me because Boris and Voltaire paid a lot of attention to me. I always had to win a battle, I could never loose to anyone. Crying was seen as a weakness, and so was any emotion besides hate, so we were all taught to loose our emotions and just focus on hating everything. I did that, and had hated the whole world and everyone in it. No one loved me, and no one ever will; that thought had been crammed into me ever since I was little. I had very little connection with anyone other than Boris and Voltaire; I didn't even know my own team. People had treated me with much fear and resentment that I never wanted to show any emotions to them. In here, any weakness is a bad thing, so they were glad that they had me. I had what they thought, was a boy without weakness, but they were wrong." He paused and let everything that he just told me to sink in, and then he continued, "A few years ago, I had been given the ability to take anyone's bit beast when I beat them in a battle. So, I did that to many teams, and took all of their bit beasts; I killed people to get their bit beasts." I flinched slightly at the word killed from remembering my own sad past. "Boris then expected too much from me, and I failed him. He soon beat me, and locked me up in one of these cells. But, no one cared that I was in here alone in the dark and cold. I soon began to crave for power that I didn't have. It became my life; everything I did was to gain power. I didn't care how I got it, as long as it was mine. I didn't care who paid for it in the end, even if it was myself. I thought that power was everything, that if I had power I'd finally be happy. So, Boris came to me one day with a proposition, and I took it. The proposition was to force me to combine with a bit beast, my own bit beast, Wolborg. So, they did that, and I was mutated. Everyone in the Abbey knew which never bothered me at all. I just wanted the power, but with it, I lost all of my emotions, and my brain waves were messed up." He stopped again, and waited for a little bit, and then continued again, "I had been mutated just in time for the world championship final battle with a kid named Tyson Granger. He had all of his friends behind him, and his power was no where near mine, but I lost it. I lost my mind, and the match. As I was battling, I grew unstable, and changed the beyblade dome into a house of ice. Me and Tyson where in the middle of it still battling. He still had his friends behind him, and their power. In the end, he won the match because of his friends. When I came home, here again, Boris beat me to the point of near death, and then locked me up again. My team got me out, but the rest of the people in the Abbey bugged me about my genetics. They called me multiple things, such as monster, freak, mutant, loser, etc. They glared at me with eyes filled with hatred upon me. But, it didn't happen for a very long time, the police had arrested Voltaire, so the Abbey was supposed to be erased. Boris snuck away, and I was left here alone. Mr. Dickenson brought me up after that, well, he gave me a home and allowed me to continue 'blading. But, every now and then, people call me a freak and such, and I'm still rather unstable." He finished.

I remained quiet, and listened to his words. 'Wow, you could have never known that by just looking at him. He seems so together and normal, but I already knew he was a mutant, but still, wow.' He sighed deeply, and he closed his icy eyes. "I regret taking up his offer now, I regret it so much." He mumbled lowly. I nodded slightly, and remained sitting by him quietly. 'I never expected him to tell me, I guess I misjudged him.' I sighed lowly, and leaned against him somewhat. He moved away from me again, and his body grew tense.

"Tala san, I'm sorry." He gave me a look, and never replied. "When I was back at home, my mother got remarried and the guy she married hates me. He had six kids of his own, all were older than me, and all were boys. They hated me so much, sometimes they'd beat me. Well, they'd beat me a lot. My dad would join a lot of the times too. My mom either didn't know or didn't care. Eventually, we moved to Nova Scotia, they made me leave all of my friends behind. I miss them, a lot. I was an outsider in Nova Scotia, and most people hated me there. I did join a beyblade team there, though, and they were really nice. They were outsiders just like me. We would lurk around in the alleys wearing trench coats and shooting people. We wouldn't kill them, but we'd shoot them. We went to Quebec for a tournament, and we won. When we came back, nothing had changed. Well, one day, everyone was treating me with a lot more remorse then usual. I hadn't checked the paper that day. When I came to school, the principle wouldn't let me in, and said that they couldn't teach a criminal. I went home, feeling slightly saddened, and my mother was crying. She had the newspaper in her hands when she was crying. My father and I think some of my brother's beat me harder than usual. Later on, I discovered that my team mate, one of my best friends, had died. They thought that it was I that had killed him. My father had called me a freak, a mutant, a monster, a lot of things that meant stuff like that. I lost consciousness after the beating, and when I woke, I decided to leave. I packed up my most precious possessions, and left. Later on, it was discovered that he had been shot by some random guy who didn't like him. His name was Vermillion."

It grew quiet suddenly afterwards when I had finished. Tala didn't say anything about it, or anything to me. But, the cold in the room had gotten worse if possible. I started shivering, and got goose bumps all over from it all. My body was numb, and my breathing was shallow. I accidentally leaned against him again, but this time, he didn't pull away. Instead, he put his arm around me, and got closer to me. "It seems that we were both called freaks then, but your not one, Kiko chan, your something more." He whispered to me. I smiled up at him, and kept my unfaltering gaze on him.

"Thank you, Tala kun." He blinked slightly, his face showing surprise. I smiled slightly, and leaned against him. "your not a monster either, your my friend." I said quietly, and then drifted off to a deep sleep.

AN: Wahahaha! This one surprisingly didn't take a very long time, scary eh? REVIEW! Please review! I gave you longer chapter's, you can at least review me! PLEASE REVIEW ME PLEASE! begs uncontrollably fine...be that way...hmph! eats a chicken mm...evil chicken! Mwahahaha! So, did you like it? How was Tala's past, hmm? I think it...well...me keep thoughts to self...mwahaha! REVIEW, okay..bye bye!


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I own Viridian, but do not own anything from beyblade! Please do not copy him, erm, well not much to copy eh? Well, you'll find out, just know that, he is mine! Mwahahaha! Now, read all people! Wahahaha! O.o O.O' o.O kekeke! Read and review please!

Chapter twenty four: Viridian

The sound of clanking steel woke me up in the dark cell. As my icy blue eyes attempted to adjust, the strong steel door flew open sending rays of light into the room. Tala was still asleep and he still had his strong arm around my thin frame. The silhouette of the person was all I could see, whoever it was, was tall and masculine. I narrowed my icy eyes for just a moment, only to relax them once more as my hopes of seeing the rest of my team there were dashed. The men in the doorway had come to get us, but it wasn't to spring us out of this mess, it was to drag us farther inside it.

The men came in before I had any time to wake Tala up; their grip was steely and made my skin crawl, as did their smell. It was as if they hadn't taken a bath in four months! The guy holding my arm had dragged me and roughly picked me up. He then dragged me out of the cold cell. I couldn't hear Tala behind me, as the guy holding me was yelling bloody murder. His grip was so tight on my thin arm, that I thought he'd yank it right out. I was forced down the same hallway that the guy before had forced me to. I was led back to the large room where my team had last been together. When I entered, I was thrown roughly against the cold hard ground. I scratched up my arms and legs again because of this.

As I slowly lifted up my head, I realized that I was alone here. I strained my ears as I slowly got up to try to hear any noise from Tala down the hall, but nothing came. I slowly rose to my feet, and looked around nervously. My gaze rested on Boris, who was standing in a far corner with someone else. I glared across at them both, readying myself for a fight. Boris greeted me with a frosty smile. His eyes were still hidden behind his glasses as he came forth from the shadows. The man following him had something behind his back that he was playing with. Boris was two or three feet away from me, and then I suddenly felt scared. 'What is he planning on doing to me?' I thought wearily.

"Miss Wieler, I know your stats, I know you're strong. Then why are you here with them?" He started to circle me nonchalantly; I kept my hard gaze on him. "Well, maybe we should see just how strong you really are!" His voice was eerily soft as he spoke to me. He then stepped back into the shadows. "Oh, and this man here is going to test you, call him Viridian" I raised my eyebrow slightly, didn't that word have something to do with the color green? Whatever the case may be, Viridian came forward.

I timidly watched him as he came towards me. I caught the faint sound of steel doors closing, Boris had left me alone with this man. The man called Viridian came closer to me, and the object he was playing with dropped to his sides; it was a long iron chain. He smiled shiftily and brought the chain over his head. He started to swing it over and over around his head. I took a very timid step backwards; what was this guy's problem? Just when I had him in my sights, he leapt forward and I couldn't see him anymore. Suddenly, something hard came down on me; I only had time to gasp before I hit the floor. I grunted to myself, and squinted slightly. Viridian was circling me slowly with the same smile on his face. He continued to swing the chain around his body. I slowly got up into a sitting position, and kept my steely gaze on him. I slowly got up, and retreated slowly. I began to circle the little bit of floor that he was circling as well. I swept my feet across the ground like when one spars (it's also called dancing, dunno why). I didn't need to keep my eyes on the ground, because I felt the area around me with my feet.

He finally got tired, and jumped at me from the front; I leapt back and swung my leg forward which collided with his arm that was holding the chain. He grimaced and drew back. We began circling each other again, like what wolves do when they were about to kill each other. I continued walking slowly in sweeping motions across the floor. The musty smell of the place was enough to make me sick, but thankfully, I wasn't about to puke. I smirked evilly, and ran up to him. His surprised expression gave me joy as did when my fist met up with his head. I then lifted up my leg and pounded it into his stomach, causing him to fly backwards. He landed not so far away, and his back smashed against the walls and made an ear piercing crack. I flinched slightly at the sound. 'Why did his spine crack?'

I still had my icy gaze on his body, which slowly rose from the ground now surrounded in dust; they didn't believe in cleaning here did they? His head then snapped backwards, making his head look straight to the ceiling. It made me take a step back for a moment, and then his body disappeared. My eyes went wide for a moment, as the hard object came down upon my body again. But, before I had time to react, the object came again and smashed into my stomach. It came again and again hitting me in many different places of my thin body. I winced slightly, and had lost all hope of ever coming out of this alive. But, just as the thought came, the beating stopped. I looked up to see Viridian stepping back slightly. My dark glare was working was it? I smiled tiredly, and walked towards him. An evil glint came forth into my eyes, and suddenly the only thing I saw was red. I smiled again, revealing long white fangs. My eyes had grown black with silver streaks that were slited like those of a cat. My nails grew longer and formed into claws, long, strong, black claws that I clacked together. My hair changed color to black with maroon streaks embodied into them.

I licked my lips, and then jumped up over his head. I had planned to land right on his face and then continually claw and rip apart his body, tearing it into tiny little shreds. I did land on him, but he kept his chain near him. He had it in his hand, and began to hit me with it; but i ignored it entirely. I yelled out, and bit down on his arm with the chain. My fangs ripped through his skin and blood was flowing through my teeth. He yelled out in pain, and his eyes had widened in fright. He slowly dropped his knife, but I remained biting him. It was like I was chewing on his arm, biting down on it just a little bit deeper then the last time I had sunk my teeth in. He quickly drew out his knife when I wasn't looking, and decided to stab my arm with it. I glared at him, and barred my teeth, but I didn't stop chewing on his arm.

Blood was spilling all over the place; blood was all over my teeth, and blood was all over his hand as he continually stabbed my arm. Soon, I let go of his arm, and sat on his chest defiantly. I then began to rip apart his flesh little by little with my long lack claws. More blood flew up from where we were fighting. He decided to sink his knife into different places and dug it into my side. I yelled out in pain once more, and then sighed angrily. My eyes burned with a hatred only known to those who I had killed on the streets of Nova Scotia. Viridian saw it, and he stopped sinking his knife into my sides. I then smiled unstably, and continued to shred his skin. In five minutes, I had killed him. His whole body had been ripped apart by my claws. My mouth still had the disgusting taste of his blood. I stopped seeing red though, and slowly got up from where I had been sitting. My body was shaking uncontrollably, what had I just done? I continued to shake, and slowly retreated from his body. His piercing green eyes were staring up at the roof, but had stopped seeing it long ago. His body lay limply on the cold stone floor, and blood was still circling it rapidly. My grabbed my arm tightly, and continued to retreat. My pupils were trembling hysterically. My eyes quickly changed back to icy blue, but the indigo in them had deepened tremendously. My shirt had been splattered with rich, crimson blood. I smelled like the unruly substance as well. My hair also changed back to brown with no maroon streaks, and my nails returned to normal. I slowly sunk down to my knees, scared of what I had just done. I glanced at his blood stained knife that lay in his now limp bloodied hands. My eyes then looked up at my arms that had been stabbed repeatedly. I then slowly sunk into unconsciousness.

Black consumed me; it was as if nothing else was there. Is there such thing as happiness? Will my team take me back after this? What will happen now? What will become of me now? Will you tell me soon? Tell me now! I slowly regained consciousness, and awoke in the same room, but Viridian's body was gone. I glanced around it blankly, and saw that my team was here with me now. They were standing a little ways away from me, talking in very low voices. My eyes looked down again; I wasn't worthy of looking at them. Only then did I realize that somebody's jacket was covering my thin and bloodied body. I glanced at it again, taking a closer look; it was Tala's. Why had he given it to me when he clearly knew what I had done? Their low mumblings soon came to a halt, and nothing filled the air again. After a few more minutes, my curiosity took over me, and I dared look up. They were all staring at me, or at least in my direction. I grew uncomfortable as they're scrutinizing gaze continued to lurk over me. Five minutes or so had passed, and they started to slowly come towards me. I was too weary to get up and back away from them, so I remained still under Tala's jacket. The place where Viridian had died was a large pool of scarlet. I shuddered at the thought of killing him by ripping him apart bit by bit. Soon, my team was right beside me. Tala was kneeling right beside me, keeping his icy eyes locked on me. Bryan, Spencer and Ian remained standing above me.

"Kiko chan, what happened here?" I avoided eye contact and replied with much agony in my weak voice.

"I killed a man." Tala nodded slowly.

"We know that, but, why did you kill him? Did he try to do something" he paused slightly, and I looked up at him in confusion, "untoward you?" My eyes widened slightly at what he just said. Tala had just shifted slightly in his position. I shook my head slightly, and he raised a single red eyebrow.

"He was working for Boris, and he tried to kill me, so I guess I snapped." Tala nodded slowly to me, and gently placed his hand on my back. I relaxed slightly, and my eyes returned to a normal size. It remained silent for a while after that. Then Boris and his men came in. My eyes immediately lit up at his presence. He appeared angry at someone, and quickly drew out a gun. He then proceeded to point it at me. My body grew frozen in fear and confusion. Why was he so angry at me? Was he expecting me to die instead of Viridian? I shrugged slightly, and slowly got up from the floor. Tala was standing beside his team mates, and I was standing beside him and Spencer. They both glanced at me quickly; making sure that I was alright to stand. I nodded to them, and Ian moved closer to my legs. We continued to glare at each other, us against Boris and his men. Boris soon sighed, and brought his gun down to his sides. He then smirked at us, and started walking towards us. I shifted slightly; this man got me so worried. Boris was soon in arms reach from us, and then he stopped. Tala moved in front of me slightly in a defensive position. Boris took notice of this, and his smirk soon disappeared. He then brought his gloved hand up to Tala's face and hit him powerfully. He did it so fast that Tala didn't dodge it fast enough. Instead, he fell down on me. I in turn fell down, and quickly got back up to my feet, as did Tala.

Boris began to laugh maniacally, and turned around. We were left to stand there blankly and wonder why he had even came here in the first place. Almost incidentally, I remembered my own knife that was always on my person, my beautiful silver knife that's hilt is in the shape of a dragon. I slowly reached down to my pockets and retrieved it quietly. I played with it in my hands as Boris made his way past his guards. After he was past the door, his men quickly followed, and slowly closed the door. However, before they could close the door entirely, I threw my knife at the crack in the door and stopped the door from closing. The men had failed to notice this, and left as quietly and quickly as they came.

After a few minutes, Tala walked towards it, his iron toed boots clanging on the hard floor. Bryan, Spencer, Ian and I all followed close behind him. Tala slowly took out the knife, and opened the door. He stuck his head out of it, and looked around; making sure that everyone was gone. They were, so we continued quietly down the hallway. Tala led the way down the hallway that we were brought down only a day or so ago. The place looked deserted; this was becoming suspiciously too easy. But, nonetheless, we got out of the Abbey without any more blood shed. And we quickly and quietly left the area.

Once we were outside and had put a great distance between us and the Abbey, Tala stopped and returned the knife to me. I took it from him slowly, and replaced it quickly in my pocket. Tala watched me with his icy blue eyes as I did so, and then he led us back home. Barely any sound escaped our mouths as we came back. Tala slowly opened the front door, and we all went upstairs without any sound. My footsteps were quiet even with my boots on; the guys' weren't as quiet.

When I came to my own room (everyone else was already in their rooms), Tala stopped me. "Kiko chan, I'm sorry for getting you mixed up with this, I'm truly sorry." I nodded to him, and gave a small smile to reassure him. He didn't remove his hand though, instead he came closer to me somewhat, "Kiko chan, we'll be training tomorrow, so I'll be getting you up, alright?" I nodded once more, and was expecting to be let go, but he didn't. "Do you want any help with cleaning your wounds?" I cocked my head slightly, and then remembered that I had gotten stabbed multiple times. I nodded 'yes' to him, and he nodded in return. I then opened my door, and let us both in. He had me sit down on my bed, and he went and got the items to clean my wounds. He sat down beside me, and slowly began to clean the stab marks on my arm, in about a few minutes, he was done. It stung like a thousand needles being pierced through your skin at once. My arm had ceased bleeding though, and Tala had bandaged it up after he cleaned it. He sighed tiredly, and then turned to me and said, "Kiko chan, I'm afraid that your going to have to do the one's on your sides, I don't want to appear perverted or anything, alright?" I nodded again, and smiled happily at him. My icy eyes sparkled up at him, and his eyes smiled back at me. It was silent in my room as we both stared at each other contently. Then, he leaned in to me, and his lips softly brushed against my cheek. They stayed there for a few seconds, and then they were gone. A rush of emotion came over me as I blushed faintly up at him. He smiled in return. "Good night, Kiko chan" he said softly. I watched him as he left my room quietly and in shock at what he did. But, in that moment, I was happy for the first time in all that day.

AN: Wahahahahaha! I loved writing this chapter! It was so much fun! Especially how he died! Mwahaha! Yes, and then the little slightly romantic (you can so tell that I don't read or watch romantic stuff) kekeke. Review it! REVIEW ME PLEASE! begs you to review hmph, fine, be that way, maybe I won't post anymore then, hm? Yes, that is what I'll do, if I do not get three reviews for this chapter, I will not post anything more till you do! Mwahaha! evil laugh O.o o.O oh wow! Well, bye bye, and please review me! REVIEW ME!


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: The teams are not mine, nothing from beyblade is mine! Wahahahahaha! I have added three more different players, they're names are mine, they are mine, please don't copy them! You can copy the names though, I mean they're just names! But yes, please do not copy them in any way besides they're names! Thank you! REVIEW ME!

Chapter twenty five: Broken

Tala's POV

I leaned against the wall beside her doorway, with my icy eyes closed. The memories of Boris came back to me, his incessant yelling, his endurable torture, his bearable training; everything. The only thing I was never able to tolerate were his words of hate directed solely at me. I shuddered slightly, and got up from the wall. I then stepped into my own room quietly, and shut the door just as quietly. I then turned the switch on the doorknob and locked my door. I remained by my door for a little while, and then wandered over to my bed. I then sat down on it, and heaved a great sigh. My eyes were closed, as I lay down on my soft bed. Am I not freakish enough to wither away in the dismay of those surrounding me? How long must I strive for the shadows till you let me be? Why have you thought of me like that? I am a freak, a mutant, a monster with no compare. Nothing is endless, as is my terror. The night needs me, and I need it. That is the whole matter of the earth; that is what I'm consumed of. Darkness is my friend, the thing that will never leave me, as I am darkness, I am pain. I'm a shattered piece of glass willed with intangible crimson blood. As I bring my mouth close to that 'blade, we shall see which one of us is to blame! Is it me? Or is it them...the final test will decide upon this. The darkness swarms in like gusts of violent wind. And the crimson color does not stop, even when we turn away. Its liquid spurts out with such intensity that only I can watch. And, as though it were called up from above, the light shone down on me. I do not deserve this! I do not need this! Why do I supposedly need this? I've lived in darkness all of my life, in the hatred of others', and within the vengeance of my own heart. Why does she come forth from the shadows deep within? Why must I feel like this, even when I've lost my whim to live...Life, what is it exactly. No one seems to know, and I highly doubt anyone wants to know...Why am I like this? Why must I hate life? Why do I enjoy seeing myself rot away? Why...why...why...is all that I seem to think about. Pain, suffering, anger, and hate, is all that I am. Or is it? I've never been taught another reason to why I'm still alive...I've never found a true reason to be alive...am I truly what they say, or is it what she says? No one seems to know who or what I am anymore, maybe I can find out, maybe...or I might just burry myself deeper into my pit of enduring suffering...

I sat up instantly as the sweat poured down on now glistening face. I slowly brought my hand up to my face, and cupped my head in it. I closed my eyes once more, and attempted to breathe in slowly and steadily. I was soon calm enough to get up from where I sat. My mind was still in turmoil as I wandered towards my bathroom. I casually went up to where the mirror was, and proceeded to watch myself in it. My reflection looked so normal and put together, the facade that I had made for many years. Why did I think that about her? Did I really expect her to like me back? I probably scared her off when I kissed her.

I wavered slightly as I stood there asking questions that would probably never receive answers. I then started to study my trembling hands. The air was still inside the house, and the only thing making any noise was my shallow breathing and the small ticking of my clock. My hands suddenly stopped trembling; what was there to be afraid of? If she hates me, then let her hate me with everything she has! 'I'll make her hate me so badly that it hurts to even look at me!' I thought angrily. If I was going to lose her anyways, might as well make sure she never comes back to me. My steady gaze then landed on my reflection in the mirror again, my eyes were filled with sadness and remorse against myself and from the thought of losing someone special to me again. I then started shaking with anger; my fists were turning paler from clenching them too tightly. I then brought my trembling fist up to the mirror, and swung it at the mirror with much force. My eyes sparked and my pupils shrunk with madness. My black pupils were also trembling. When my fist landed on the mirror, it shattered into many pieces. The skin on my fist was all torn up leaving some of the glass, which now lay scattered across my bathroom floor, painted with blood; my blood, my crimson blood that looked like everyone else's. But, I wasn't like everyone else, I was a freak.

I stood there with glass shards all over the bathroom floor, deep cuts in my hand, and blood splattered all over everything. My pupils were still small and they were still trembling. My whole body shook, and nothing I could imagine stopped it. I hadn't thought of the noise that had come from the glass breaking.

End of Tala's POV

My eyes instantly snapped open from the sound of crashing glass. I sighed tiredly, and threw the covers off of my thin frame. My legs quickly swung over my bed, and I got up slowly. "What the heck are they doing? Stupid boys, why are they doing dishes so early in the morning, or is it night? Meh, they're probably, hey wait a minute, that sounded really close by, I should check on Tala sama." I quietly mumbled to myself as I was walking through my empty room. I quietly opened my door, and stepped lightly out into the darkened hallway. I then stared blankly for a few minutes; what exactly was I doing again? It came back to me, and I forced my legs to go in the direction of his room. As I came up to the red-wood door, I thought about what might happen if I disturbed him of his sleep? He might get angry or something. But, finding out what it is would help my nerves. I slowly brought my hand up to his door to knock on it, but then stopped short of knocking; what if he feels awkward for kissing me? I hadn't thought of it until right now, weird. My eyes darted down to the ground and focussed on my black socks. In my mind I was battling over knocking on his door, or just exploring downstairs again. My mind had made up its mind; I was going to knock on his door. In one swift motion, my hand landed softly on his door and knocked quietly. Even though it was quiet, it still echoed down the hallway. I flinched slightly; afraid of what might happen if that knock had just woken up the rest of the team. It didn't, so I waited patiently.

I strained my ears to hear anything inside, but heard nothing. I knocked again, still nothing. Is he a deep sleeper perchance? I judged against it, and knocked louder this time; still nothing. Growing angry, I banged harder on the door, and still no answer. Worry was starting to sunk into my heart as nothingness filled the air. 'What's going on in there?' I thought worriedly. I shrugged slightly, hoping to get the feeling away; it didn't work. "Mm, maybe I should just let myself in!" Without thinking, I was already attempting to open the door. Apparently he locked it, so there was only one thing left to do; pick it open. I slowly lifted my hand up to my pony tail, and took out a senbon needle. I then quickly brought it into the lock, and kneeled down by it. I placed my ear against the lock, and listened intently. I was waiting for the sharp click that was made when the senbon had unlocked the door. Finally, it came, the sharp click that insinuated that the door was unlocked.

I cautiously opened the door, and put a wary foot inside of his dark room. There was no sound except for my shallow breathing. I slowly stepped more into his room, and closed the door behind me quietly. I slowly made my way towards his empty bed, and sat on it judging its warmness. It was still rather warm, so wherever he went, he didn't leave that long ago. My gaze drifted towards a thin trail of light coming from a door opposite the bed. I leisurely got up from the bed, and made my way over to it. Upon reaching it, I gradually bent down and got a better look at the room with a light on. My eyes widened slightly, when my eyes rested on the many glass shards lying on the floor. I immediately threw the door open wider and got to my normal height. My eyes widened again; why was Tala standing in here with his hand bleeding?

He didn't turn to me as I carefully stepped around the many glass shards and came towards him. I gently placed a small hand on his shoulder, only then did he snap out of his comatose state and turn to me. His pupils had shrunk tremendously and had an almost evil looking spark to them. The fact that he looked wrathful and that his hand was bleeding steadily took me by surprise, and had made me step back involuntarily. 'Why does he look so indignant? What happened to his hand? Why is there glass all over the place?' He looked irritable and almost insane. "Tala kun, Tala kun! Please snap out of it, please! You're starting to scare me!" My voice was pleading him to stop, but not seeming to reach him clearly. He didn't seem to understand me, or maybe didn't care. Either way, the door behind me slammed shut, and he had me pinned on the door. He had both hands on either side of me, and the insane look in his eyes was making me unsteady. "Tala kun, Tala kun please stop!" I pleaded loudly to him.

He looked even angrier at me after I said that, and his hands soon were made into fists. "Shut up, you wench!" My eyes grew even more wide when he yelled that at me. Why did he just call me that? He then hung his head, and his arms soon grew limp. 'Tala kun, why is he doing this? What's wrong with him?' I thought ominously. As I stared at him in confusion, I gathered courage to speak to him.

"Tala kun, what's wrong? Please tell me, I want to help you, I want to be there for you." I said soothingly. Tala's head didn't lift up, but his arms fell to his sides and he slowly turned away. "Tala kun!" my voice was urgent this time. He didn't seem to want to face me, so I waited for him to speak, but when nothing came, I grew even more worried for him. "Tala kun?" I hesitantly rested my hands on his shoulders and brought myself closer to him. My gaze had softened slightly as I stood there. 'Why won't he tell me anything?' I thought. Hesitantly, I moved around him and faced him defiantly. My hands on his shoulders dropped down to my sides, and then lifted up to his face again.

I had kept my hand there for a moment or two, and he slowly lifted his head and stared at me with his now normal looking icy eyes. I smiled softly, and let my hands drop. His eyes seemed to grow less cold as he kept his gaze on me longer. I sighed deeply, and relaxed a lot more. "So, are you going to tell me what was wrong?" He sighed as well, and his gaze lowered a bit, then returned to stare at me.

"I'm not going to tell you what it was, but you did help it leave, thank you, Kiko chan." I smiled softly up at him, and nodded slightly. After a few more minutes of silence, we both stepped back from each other and he opened the door once more. "Tala kun, let me see your hand." Without waiting for any answer, I grabbed his hand and looked at it carefully. I then glanced up at him again, "it doesn't seem too bad, but you should still look at it as soon as possible." He nodded, and smiled faintly at me.

"Thank you, Kiko chan." I smiled up at him happily, and his eyes returned the gesture. He then moved aside for me, and I walked past him quietly. I then turned around to face him in his still dark room. "I should let you go now, thank you for...coming here and helping me." I nodded slightly to him and smiled up at him again.

"Your welcome, Tala kun, I'm always happy to help you, and I was glad to come here!" I then proceeded to walk out of his room, and into the dimly lit hallway. 'Why is it slightly lightened now?' He followed me slightly, and watched me enter my room with his icy eyes, and then he closed his door quietly. I sighed slowly after closing my door, and closed my eyes in relief 'I'm so glad he's alright', I thought calmly. My eyes opened then, and I slowly made my way over to my bed, and laid down on it. I then pulled the covers over top of my body, and drifted off to another deep sleep.

morning

My arctic eyes snapped open quickly and my legs swung over my bed. I threw my covers off, and quickly got dressed in a black, long-sleeved shirt with string criss-crosses on the arms so that you could see some of my skin. I then pulled on my black tight jeans that flared out at the bottom. My black netting wasn't put on that day, basically because I couldn't get it all the way up my arm. The rest of my chains and spikers went on though. I quickly changed my socks, but they were still black. My medium length dark brown hair was let down, and so I began brushing it rhythmically. After placing it back up into a pony tail and replacing my iron rip cord and chain back into it, I sighed and left my room.

The hallway was empty when I came down it and entered the bathroom calmly. I closed the door and then locked it, and continued with the rest of my morning routine. After I finished my routine, I left the bathroom and went down the stairs calmly. The rest of the team could be heard downstairs though, so they hadn't ditched me after all. I eventually made my way to where they were, in the direction of the training room. After staring at it for a few minutes, I shrugged and opened the door. All activity stopped when I came in. I slowly raised my eyebrow, and walked over to them. "Um, hey guys," I asked questionably. They nodded to me, and resumed their loud arguing.

I slowly shook my head, and turned to face Tala standing beside them with his arms crossed. His face said that he was extremely annoyed. 'So, he feels the same way, does he?' I thought. I calmly walked over to him and smiled up at him then resumed staring at them weirdly. He nodded to me, and sighed once more.

"Hey, will you guys just drop it? The tournament will be taking place in a few weeks, we have to be there early to get our hotel and such, and we need to train for it now!" They all stopped at the sound of his cold voice, and then they all grumbled and walked towards the many rings were they then started to train. Tala sighed, and closed his eyes. His icy eyes then opened and looked down on me again, "that means you too, alright?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked back up at him. I nodded excitedly and a happy spark came into my eyes. We then wandered over to the training rings and began to train tirelessly.

A few weeks later

We had trained immensely, and me and the team seemed to get closer somewhat. We had eaten dinner and lunches together, and trained together. Nothing else really happened in those weeks other than that. We are now just arriving in Tokyo, Japan. Spencer, Bryan, and Ian all sat together behind me and Tala. Through most of the trip they argued, and many times me and Tala had been interrupted from our conversation because he had to go back there and shut them up. It was an interesting trip to say the least, a lot more lively then my first plane trip was.

We were now standing on the side walk of Japan, man it was bustling! There were people everywhere here, and it was much warmer here then it ever was in Japan. Everywhere I looked there were people. There was also a lot of noise in the area, which bothered me somewhat, but no matter. I was so glad to be able to not freeze for once in a long time. As I was glancing around the place happily, my team gently led me down the streets to the hotel where we were staying. "We're going to be staying in one of the BBA's hotels, so we don't have to pay for it, nice eh?" I nodded slightly to Spencer's words as we continued down the side walk.

Soon, we came to a rather large white building. As we entered, I had already saw other teams coming down the side walk. I ignored them though, and we entered uneventfully. Tala had told me on the plane that they had already filled out the forms so we were already entered in the tournament; amazing what the internet can do. We walked quickly to the front desk where others were waiting patiently; the girl behind the desk was working furiously on her computer. "I'm so sorry about this; I've never had this happen before. The computer is acting up and won't let me see which rooms are vacant and which ones aren't." She didn't even bother to acknowledge us, which somewhat bothered me. The rest of my team waited tolerantly for her. I leaned against the desk after we were left waiting for a few more minutes.

I kept my arms crossed and kept my steady, icy gaze on the other 'bladers around us. My eyes were narrowed, and it looked like the wait was putting its toll on everyone else as well as me. My gaze swept across the sea of people in front of me; and then leaving each 'blader quickly. I continued to do so, until my eyes caught sight of someone familiar. I narrowed my eyes once more, and then sighed quietly to myself. 'Is that her? Then...the other two beside her must be-'I had made up my mind, it was her! 'Who else would have that color of hair and those ears?!'

I un-crossed my arms and slowly came towards them with my best glare on my stern face. I approached the purple haired girl warily, and soon came within arms reach of her. I nodded slightly at them all, and studied them silently. Whatever they had been talking about was soon ended as I approached them. "Mm, is your name...Kiyoko chan?" the purple haired girl nodded, and then I smirked. She had long purple hair that came down to her knees, it was also wrapped up in a black wrapping (the same thingy as Ray san's). She had dark, vibrant violet eyes that looked slightly slited as she stared up at me. I glanced at the other two beside her. "Rin chan, Marissa chan, correct?" they both nodded to me, and gave me weary looks. I smirked again to them all, and then crossed my arms again.

"And who might you be?" Rin asked. I moved my icy gaze over to her, and smirked once more. I then un-crossed my arms, and held my hand out to her. She had piercing ice blue eyes that had a navy outlining to them. Her midnight black hair came down to her waist. Her skin wasn't quite as pale as mine, but yet a sunkissed tan. Kiyoko's skin was just as pale as mine, or maybe a little bit darker somewhat; I'm really pale!

"You've met me before, online. My name's Kiko Wieler." Their eyes suddenly brightened up, and Rin brought up her own hand and shook my own firmly. I smirked slightly, and they returned the smile. Rin then dropped my hand and came towards me and quickly brought her arms around my thin frame; it's also called a hug. My eyes swept over them once more, but awkwardly this time; why was she hugging me? She eventually let me go, and then Marissa hugged me. She had almost orange blonde hair that was shoulder length. Her eyes were a deep brown. She wasn't as tanned as Rin was, but wasn't quite as pale as me and Kiyoko.

"I can't believe that's you! You seemed so awesome online, but seeing you is really different!" She said happily. I simply smirked again, and then she let me go. Thankfully, Kiyoko chan didn't hug me; that might cause me to have a heart attack. Kiyoko chan and Marissa chan were both shorter than I was, but Rin was the same height as me. They were all skinny and curvy, but they were the healthy skinny, not anorexic skinny.

"Hey, it's nice to finally meet you, Kiko chan," Kiyoko chan said quietly. Man was her voice quiet; it wasn't as loud as Rin's or Marissa's. I'd say that my voice was just a tad bit louder then Marissa's, about the same height as Rin's. I nodded to them slowly, and smirked in spite of myself.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you guys in person too!" I glanced around again, and then turned to them once more, "this is a mess, what do they think they're doing anyways?" I said slightly annoyed, "hmph, oh well, so where are you're teams?" Rin smiled slightly, and Kiyoko remained the same almost. Marissa chan just kind of looked around for her team.

"Well, I'm on the White Tiger X team." Rin finally spoke up after a few moments of silence between us four. She then pointed behind me when I gave her a confused look. I turned around and saw a man with black thick hair that came down to his feet. His was also wrapped up like Kiyoko's; but his wrapping was white, not black. He wore a white and black, short sleeved Chinese shirt with a red sash belt. He wore black slightly baggy pants and flat Chinese shoes. His hands were covered with red, fingerless gloves with a yin yang symbol on it. On his forehead he also had a red cloth with a yin yang symbol in the middle of it. His golden eyes seemed to meet my own icy one's, and he came towards us slowly. When he reached us, he greeted us with a smile, and stood beside Rin almost defensively.

"I'm on the G revolutions." Kiyoko chan retorted. She then pointed over to a loud mouthed brat hanging around a cold looking, two toned dude. The brat had long navy hair kept under a blue and red hat. His head was turned away, so his eyes are a mystery right now. He wore a red jacket that he had pulled the collar up on, and wore tight jeans with red and white sneakers. He also had blue fingerless gloves on. The guy beside him had two toned blue hair that stuck up weirdly. He had a white scarf on that came down to his feet that were covered in black flat Chinese shoes. He had navy baggy pants that he had tied the ankles of with a red material. He wore a black, short sleeved sweater and had black fingerless gloves on.

Marissa had been waiting to talk, because she had located her team. "And I'm on Bega." She pointed to a tall guy with orange hair. He was wearing a long white coat with yellow markings on it. He had white pants on underneath his jacket and wore brown shoes. His coat was long sleeved as well. His coat had a high collar that was black. He had burgundy fingerless gloves on, too. His eyes were an emerald color. I'm guessing that all the guys that they pointed to were they're team leaders. I nodded to each of them even if their backs were turned.

"I'm on the BlitzkriegBoys, but they changed their name because I'm a girl; now we're called Neoborg." They simply nodded slowly, and each gave me a rather small smile. I returned it, and turned around to find them again. The lady behind the desk was still pounding away, and the noise in here had increased steadily, as did the amount of people. "Um, I think I'm going to join my team again, it's getting crowded in here. I'll see you guys later then, bye!" I called as I ran through the crowd to find my team. Their voices were drowned out from the crowd, but I was guessing they were saying goodbye. After hitting many people out of the way and yelling above the crowd at them, I re-joined my team. Tala had his eyes closed, and the other three were bickering over something else again. I smirked slightly, and crossed my arms. My gaze then trailed up the long line up beside us, the guy with two-toned hair was there leaning against the counter, and the guy wearing the hat was being dragged off. There were others down there as well, but no one that I knew.

In about another half hour, the lady had gotten the computer figured out. She was now handing out all of the room numbers to each of the team captains. Once Tala had our number in his hands, he led us away from the turmoil. We gradually climbed up the stairs until we reached the floor we were on. Then we stopped down the white hallway and waited for Tala to figure out where our room would be located. He soon found it, and opened the door in less then 15 minutes! We dropped our stuff on the ground, and Tala and Spencer were getting a curtain up on one side of the room for me. Bryan and Ian were still arguing over who knows what. Sighing, I stepped out into the lighted hallway and glanced down it. I raised a single eyebrow as my eyes set on the three other girls walking down the hallway with their teams. I smiled childishly, and ran back in.

AN: Wahahahaha! I left you off here because I'm lazy! As I said before, do not copy Rin, Marissa, and Kiyoko! I'll be adding them more in the story as it goes on, it'll be fun! Now, review me! I won't post another chapter after this until I get three reviews! WAHAHAHAHA! Please review me! I hate cheese, I really hate cheese. I'm dying my hair black with red highlights, soon! But, my mom sprained her thumb last night, so she didn't dye my hair, poor me! Maybe, today?? Oh well, I'll see you guys later! Bye bye!


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter twenty six: Haven Destructed

The room was an average, every day, hotel room. It had white walls, with neat beds, there were five of them. Beside each of them separating them, were brown side tables with lamps on them, too. The carpet was an ugly grey color with specks of brown dotting the areas of carpet randomly. My footsteps were soundless as I walked slowly towards my team. They all had their backs turned to me; they were probably staring at someone across the way who forgot to close their window. I carefully treaded across the way, and was soon only a few steps away from them, when I caught the direction of their eyes, they were staring right ahead; clearly something was interesting here.

As quietly as I could, I gently laid my hands on Tala's shoulders and managed to stifle a laugh. Tala startled slightly, which caused me to laugh. I threw back my head, and closed my Frostic eyes. The laugh that escaped my lips was loud and obnoxious. It caused itself to echo through the room, and leak through the doorway into the hallway. It was deep and long. Tears began to stream down my red face, and my arms began to wrap themselves around my tiny figure. To what people do not know, it sounded drunk; the drunk laugh. By now, the rest of the team had looked back at me almost instantly as soon as I had opened my mouth. They all waited for me to cease, and quietly took a timid step back.

In about 10 minutes, I was sated, and stopped laughing. There was an abnormal electric streak in my normal wintry eyes. My hair had turned to brilliant silver as it flowed over my shoulder in one cascading motion. It was still in a pony tail though.

Tala and the rest of them had regained their calm composure. I smiled slightly up at them; my calm demeanour not appearing just yet. I slowly took in deep, calming breaths, and gazed at them expecting them to walk away. Instead, they calmly told me what they had been staring at. It seems that a cat had just landed on the porch outside of my window. They were slightly confused as to why it was there. But, the cat had been startled at my laugh, and had long ago run off. The corner of my mouth had lifted slightly as I listened to their story. I calmly shook my head, and walked past them to sit on my bed.

It was covered in thick, mahogany blankets. It was slightly hard too, might not have been in use for a little while; I mean who in their right minds orders a five bed room?! I smirked to myself again, and slowly got up to stare out at the window. I had a clear view of the city below me. As I gazed out of it, I noticed the radiant setting sun. It cast its rays of golden and saffron across the city of Tokyo, Japan. The sky had turned a deep fuchsia, plum, and cherry red. As I stood there lost in my own little world, Tala joined by my side. I hadn't heard the door close; we were alone.

"It's so beautiful" He murmured absently. His polar eyes were set straight ahead. His hands were at his sides; surprisingly not crossed. I nodded to him slowly as my eyes drifted up towards him. He was so handsome; cut just couldn't suppress how great he looked right now, with the glow of the setting sun glinting into his Frostic eyes. It shimmered in his crimson hair, and made it glow even more. His face didn't seem as pale as before, and his eyes seemed softer.

My stare had been noticed, as he watched me in return. He raised a single eyebrow, and I quickly turned away. My cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. Why hadn't he said anything about it? The silence remained between us as we stood watching the sun peacefully.

Kiyoko's POV

My neko-jin had appeared as soon as we first set foot into the room. My long black tail swung around me restlessly. Was this really where we were staying? As my violet slited eyes searched the room quietly, Tyson ran ahead of me and immediately sat down on one of the closest beds. Kai then sighed lowly, and calmly walked past me soundlessly. Kenny and Hillary followed as well, bickering over something, as usual. My black cat ears dropped slightly as I timidly walked in. I had soon located my own bed, the one farthest away from everyone else, and walked slowly over to it.

The mahogany covered bed was soft, so it didn't hurt when I sat down on it. My tail still swung around my body edgily. Tyson and Hillary were now arguing, probably over where they were going to sleep. My purple eyes scanned the carpet below me, and only then did I realize just how dirty it was! It looked as if it were never cleaned! With a disgusted look, I quickly glanced up at Tyson and Hillary. My black cat ears twitched as I calmly eavesdropped on them.

"I want this bed, not you, Hillary!" Tyson yelled fervently.

"Tyson, you are such a jerk! This one's mine, get off it!" Hillary quickly retorted.

This continued until Kai stepped in between them. I watched silently as with just a glance, both had managed to shut up. Kai then picked up Tyson by his collar, and threw him off of the bed that the two were fighting over. Tyson leaped up, and started yelling at Kai now, only to be stopped abruptly by a single glance from Kai. Hillary didn't try to pick anything with Kai; I've known from watching him that he can get quite aggressive when he's in a bad mood. So, she just turned on her heel, and stomped over to me. Hillary was somewhat annoying at times, but otherwise, she was just a girl.

"Kiyoko chan, how can you just sit there and not do anything about Tyson?! Doesn't he bother you at all?!" Her high pitched yelling hurt my ears, which made me give her a calm, collected glance. Hillary remained ranting over how annoying Tyson was, until I quickly got up from my sitting position. I then calmly went to my window, and opened it silently. As quiet as I could, I gingerly stepped onto the railing, and looked around the calm city. I then switched into my other form; a black cat with glowing yellow eyes that could penetrate even the darkest of souls. I soon leapt down to the nearest railing, and continued to do that quickly until I got down to the bottom and onto the sidewalk. My large cat-eyes searched the place expectantly, and ran off in a random direction. I don't always care where I'm going, as long as it's new and somewhat dark. I quickly found my place, a dark alley, and continued to run down it swiftly.

Rin's POV

My eyes had no more light in them as I calmly scanned the area that was to be our room. It was a mess; I could have gotten a better one on my own! 'I can't believe she called my 'Caitlin', guess she is like most of the people here in Japan, all about the respect thing and such. Screw them!' I thought bitterly. As I quickly moved to the bed farthest from everyone else, I was aware of the hateful gaze on my back coming from the only other girl on this team; Mariah. Oh I hate her! She's so happy and preppy; it makes me want to break her neck! But, that would surely mean that I'd be put into jail, where Boris could find me again.

I sighed lowly to myself as I sat down on the chestnut coloured bed. My hostile mood was of nothing less then what I'd normally give to my team. These people have no idea what I've been through, and what they'd take out of it, they would probably brush away. Well, not all of them, maybe Ray would understand, but then again, I have been wrong of people before.

In the background of my thoughts lingered the faint sounds of my bit beast, Oceanna. She would constantly bicker in my mind over pointless things, and then she'd go insane, causing me to become something beyond normality. In the room with me, Ray was calmly sitting cross-legged on his bed, listening patiently as Mariah argued with her brother, Lee, once again. I hate them all, they're too happy for their own good! They have no knowledge of the outside world, of how cruel and unusual they can be. They know nothing!

As my thoughts filled with morbidity consumed my head, I failed to notice that the setting sun had become black. And the sounds of the night had filled the air. Mariah's and Lee's fight had been cleared, and both were now sitting calmly on the coach watching something stupid. They would never know, they'd never understand. They wouldn't ever be able to comprehend my sorrow and regret that has filled me for so many long years of my life so far.

Kiko Chan

Tala had left me long ago, and now I sat on my bed gazing mindlessly up at the white ceiling above me. My polar eyes soon closed and my distinct ears caught the sounds of the night. The small chirping of the crickets, the light sound of the wind batting at the window; it sounded so peaceful. Yes, peace, the word that was alien to me for the last few weeks on endless training, and with the fear of Boris in every corner, sleep was hard as well. The silence was soon grating on my last nerves; where was my team?

As if they knew instinctively, the sound of a door creaking reached my ears. My eyes immediately snapped open and my body sat up straight. 'Where did they go? Did they even think of calling me, there is a phone here after all!' My urge to snap at them became stronger, but I knew that I shouldn't. I delicately stepped onto the soft floor, and slowly walked past the white curtain, and walked towards them. They quietly lifted their heads from undoing their iron toed boots. I calmly leaned against the wall and kept my hostile gaze on them all. They seemed to notice my pissed off mood, and stood up straight.

It was a little while before any one of us spoke up; the silence was unbearable! Tala soon broke it though, with his crisp, cold words, "look, don't get irritated just because we got home late! You didn't want to train, so we left to do so, if you don't take this tournament seriously, then maybe you should go back to Russia, on your own!" My arctic eyes suddenly widened from their once peaceful state. What did he mean exactly? Why was he suddenly snapping at me like this? My slow sanity was quickly waning.

"Watch yourself, Valkov! You know that you need me that would be why you asked me to join this pathetic team! The only reason why you're training in the first place is because you feel inferior to me, and the rest of the bloody teams here! Get a life will you, its only one tournament, it doesn't mean anything! There are always newer and better ones out there; as is better and newer teams to be on!" I snapped back at him.

An irritated spark soon filled his normally unfeeling eyes. His fists soon started shaking slightly from anger. "Well then, if you want to leave so badly, then get out!" His words stung like ice shards, and the rest of the team knew it from looking at my slightly weakened look. He continued though, "you should know by now that we train everyday, no matter the circumstances! If you can't handle it, then you are weak! If words hurt you, then you are weak! If you're scared of tiny things like heights and spiders, then you are weak! If you care so much about our safety, then leave, this is not what our team is based on! We're not inferior to anyone; we just like to keep top of our game! Because, losers like you make us lose matches, which makes us lose the respect that we deserve, the fear that we yearn! You know what, Boris was right, you are a loser, and no amount of training can fix that, I wish I had never met you!" His voice was dangerously cold as he spat out the last sentence. I started to shake as unwanted memories consumed me again.

My eyes clouded over, and I moved my head sideways so that my dark bangs could cover up my quickly tearing up eyes. Bryan gave Tala a very distrusting look, and nudged Spencer calmly. Spencer got the message, and both shuffled over to the table beside the kitchen area. Ian quickly followed after giving a one last glance towards me. Tala stood there shaking slightly as what he said had finally sunk in. His electrified eyes soon calmed down and he looked back at me with his calm, tundra coloured eyes. I remained still while shaking slightly as past events filled me entirely. 'Am I such a pathetic loser that now everyone can tell?' As I bantered in my mind, Tala cautiously stepped towards me with an almost soft glow emitted in his eyes. He gently placed a strong hand on my thin shoulder, which snapped me from its grasp. Tension ran through my body at the touch of his hand. I quietly drew away from him and stepped back into the room.

Tala didn't try to say anything, but as I lifted my gaze into his own icicle-like eyes, I saw hurt and confusion. I quickly pulled my stare away, and turned my back to them all silently, and made my way towards the curtained side of the room. As I slipped past it, I calmly sat on my bed with my body still shaking. 'Maybe I don't belong on this team, if those words affected me so badly. This is the type of team I'm on now, the cold-hearted kind. I don't belong here, I don't belong anywhere! Why am I here anyways? Oh, that's because they're using me to get back at Tyson Granger san or something like that. They're just using me; I'm just their play toy, nothing less and nothing more.' As I sat there dejectedly in a world of my own, soft sobbing sounds escaped my mouth quietly. The tears reluctantly rolled down my fair face (she thinks that crying is a weak thing).

Blitzkriegboys' POV

Meanwhile, outside of the curtained area, Tala was struck senselessly about the events that had just occurred. Bryan, Ian, and Spencer were sitting solemnly at the kitchen table. Tala remained standing where Kiko chan had left him. Soon after she had left and the silence still endured, Bryan started shaking his head, and his teal eyes closed silently. Spencer kept his own grey eyes on the table before him. Ian kept on petting his riffle that was longer then his own body.

Tala sighed deeply, and soon his own subzero-eyes closed as well. He quickly went over to the other side of the table and sat down. After more minutes of never-ending silence, Bryan cleared his throat, and opened his dark teal eyes, "Tala san, why did you say that to her?" Tala looked up at him with his chilly eyes. Bryan understood that he meant 'continue' or 'I'm not sure'. For now, he was safe from any harm. "She may be part of our team, but she is still a girl. We haven't brought this up yet, but we do need to be more," his cobalt blue eyes then started to circle the room looking for an answer that was not there.

Tala sighed deeply, and his Frostic eyes searched Bryan's face. "Bryan san, I know what your trying to say, and you are right. But, she also needs some backbone; or what use was it bringing her here?" Spencer and Bryan nodded in agreement, and Ian looked up suddenly. "I think it might be wise, to treat her like she is to be expected of with us around and when others' are around." A small spark appeared in his teal eyes.

"Tala san, we should ask her to act a certain way around us when the spot light is on, but either way, there was no excuse for what you told her. It looked as if she might have cried slightly from it. Besides, girls' hormones are...interesting...different then ours."

"I know that, Bryan!" Tala snapped back at him. Bryan's hard face didn't flinch as he spat out those words. They were all used to themselves being cold and rash full by now. Tala then sighed again, and moved his stare towards the table once more. "Look, all I'm saying is that she needs to toughen up a bit, that's all."

"Even so, Tala san, you should still see if she is alright." Spencer's bold voice broke out. Tala shot him a glance, and nodded once more. Tala soon got up, and slowly went towards the curtained area.

'How do I ask if she's alright? I've never been in this kind of situation before; these emotions are all new to me. I hate feeling like this; this feeling of guilt is suffocating me. I don't even know if she's angry at me or if she's crying in there.' Tala thought as he made his way towards the curtain.

'He's doing it, wow. I wonder why? He's never apologized to us before, why her all of a sudden?! Oh well though, she is on our team, and she probably battles better when she's not crying, weird girl. I'm going to be alone forever, might as well not let myself get too attached to her, if Tala does like her anyways, then he might be even worse. He might be so angry and confused by his emotions and by her actions, that he might loose it more often. He might get outraged at us if we dared to talk or look at her, but it is his life, and not mine; I no longer have to just worry over if we win or loose, same thing with Tala now.' Bryan thought.

As Tala stepped soundlessly across the room, and he soon got to the curtain; he lightly knocked on the wall beside it. "Kiko chan, are you in there?" There was no answer, "Kiko chan, if you don't answer me, then I'm coming in." There was no answer, only the slight noise of shifting sheets. 'She must be on her bed; did I really make her cry?' He slowly pulled the curtain back, and stepped in inaudibly. His glacial eyes rested on her back as he came in. 'Her back is turned to me, she must really hate me.' He thought desolately.

Kiko Chan

I turned my back to him so that he couldn't see the tear streaks down my face. I quickly rubbed away any signs of crying with the back of my hand, and attempted to ignore him. No matter how hard I tried though, I couldn't block out his words, or the fact that his footsteps were growing louder. 'What is he doing?' I thought calmly. I soon felt the bed give slightly as someone else's weight was on it, too. Alarm ran through my body, what was he going to do? I slowly got up and sat upright to gaze at him sadly. He saw it in my now cloudy eyes, and his own had suddenly reflected it.

"Kiko chan, I...you were crying right?" The look on his face showed genuine worry, which worried me as well. I nodded slightly to him, and sniffed quietly. Tala nodded as well, and his eyes searched the floor anxiously. I slowly made my body move closer to him, and gently placed my hand on his shoulder. Instantly his head snapped up and his eyes met mine for a moment. In that brief moment I felt like I was looking at him, the true him. His worry was reflected in his eyes, his guilt, and his dejection, his everything. But, after that moment, it seemed less tense.

"Tala kun, I'm sorry for flipping out like that, you were right, it was uncalled for. I may be pathetic now, but I can be like you guys and make you all proud of me!" Tala's eyes seemed more worried now then before. What did this mean? "Tala kun?"

"No, I don't want you to be like us, like me. I just haven't dealt with girls before, and don't know what is expected of us from you. You weren't in the wrong for getting cross with us, and next time we'll call. The only thing I want to know is: will you still be like that..., like this in public?" His voice was lower then before, but still reached me powerfully.

"I prefer to act cold and indifferent in public, that is what you want, right?" His eyes had diminished in feeling, and now looked dim. I felt that his hope was losing to something.

"Kiko chan, it's not what we want, it's what you want. Just be yourself, people seem to like it better when you are yourself anyways." His voice was the same tone, but it felt weaker then before somehow. I smiled slightly though, and my polar eyes didn't diminish.

"I want to be that way, but not all the time, so, I'll try to be cold and collected; but I might not do as well as you guys!" I said jokingly. At this though, Tala's head snapped right up, and he kept his cold gaze fixated on me. 'Did I say something wrong?' I kept my own stare on him as well, and so badly wanted to ask what I did that was wrong. I guess he noticed that I was confused, and calmed down somewhat once more.

"We don't intend on keeping in-touch with you after this, so don't start getting any ideas that we could ever be friends." That was the last statement he said before he got up, and strolled to the other room quickly. I was left there blinking in utter confusion; was what I said so bad? I thought we were beginning to be friends, after what he told me and what I told him. I even promised to never leave him; and they say I'm confusing! What does he mean exactly? What are his intentions? His mood swings are just as odd as my own; I think he does want me to be his friend, but just doesn't want to admit it. Boys are so strange! Exasperated, I laid down on my bed, and closed my eyes. Soon, I had drifted off to a rather confusing dream; weird.

Morning

I woke up tiredly, and rolled over to my side facing the curtain. There was no sound in the room, which slightly worried me. Had they left me yet again? How rude! I quickly sat up, and searched the part of the room which was mine. My suitcase was over by the wall by the curtain, and there was nothing else but a side table beside my bed. As I was glancing around the room, my arctic eyes caught sight of the red lights in the clock beside my table; it read: 5:49 am. I smirked suddenly, no wonder there wasn't any noise; they were all asleep.

I tried going back to sleep, but every time I tried, I failed. After a few vain attempts, I sighed and got back up again. I stretched quietly, and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I walked casually towards my suit case, and opened it up just as quietly as I had stretched. I then yawned and politely covered my mouth with my right clenched hand. As soon as I was awake, I began searching in my suit case.

Something had caught my eye as I dumped everything out of it (too lazy to actually dig through it!). A small folded piece of white paper fell from my bag. I studied it calmly with eyes of wonder, and threw my bag on my bed. My clothes were all over the floor now, and everything else in it, which included books, jewellery, comb, brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, nail polish, you know all the basic needs of any girl. And, I sat in the middle of it all, holding a small folded paper. I turned it over in my hands, and judging from the crease in it, it was folded recently. The paper was white computer paper, and it had my name in nice, neat, and black lettered hand-writing. It was also in English. I carefully opened it up without tearing it, and read the letter quietly.

It read:

_Dear Kiko chan,_

_I know this sounds formal and such, but I didn't know how to start a letter any other way. I'm sorry for my words last night; I just didn't know what to say. When you said that we were cold and collected all the time, it made me wonder if we really were. We do try to not sound that way or act that way, but we do come across as that a lot. I don't want you to stay like us, and I do want us to be friends, but I'm not sure how the team would take it, erm, will take it. But, judging from what they said and acted last night when you left crying, I think they want to be friends too. Since you have no where else to go, even if we lose this tournament, we'll still stay in touch and be a team. Don't tell the rest of the team about this either, okay? They will harass us for it, mostly me. I don't know how to apologize, so this'll have to do for now, until I get the hang of it; Kiko chan, if you forgive me, just act normal towards us, uh, me. If not, I understand, and you can ignore me all you want. I truly enjoy having you on the team, and hope to get better acquainted with you later on, bye, __Kiko__ chan. _

_-Tala. _

The letter was in English, and it was written in the same font and style as my name was on the front. I smiled softly as I re-read it a second time. This was the kind of apology that I could understand, and not feel guilty about. Usually, when someone says sorry, I feel like it's my fault, and feel even more awkward afterwards. But, because it was in a letter form, and he didn't ask me to say 'I forgive you', I felt relieved and happier then before. But, something tugged on me from the back of my mind; how did he sneak in here last night, and put it in my bag without my knowing it? Wow, I must be a deep sleeper or something. I quickly shrugged it off, and got up from the dirty floor. I quickly walked over to my side table, and opened the drawer to it. I was about to release it, when I thought that I might forget about it if I do place it in there. So, instead I closed the drawer again, and re-placed it in a side-pocket in my bag.

I sighed softly, and scanned the floor wearily; I made a mess first thing in the morning, how cool! I gradually slumped down and began putting the rest of my belongings back into my suit case. I picked up a tight T-shirt, which was black and had black netting underneath it, and found my black jeans with a silver dragon up the one leg. I quickly changed into that, and began placing all of my chains, spikers, rings, etc. But, today I decided to place the rest of my earrings in too, well at least more then the one hole. I changed the one set of normal silver hoop earrings, and replaced them with silver hooped ones that were really small. They were right against my ear and left no space in between the earring and my ear. I did the same to the other hole above it; unfortunately I had to re-pierce it though.

Quickly after chucking the clothes I had been wearing the day before into my suit case, I wandered out quietly and searched the area. My team was still asleep; including Tala! I smirked, and leisurely went into the bathroom and shut the door. The bathroom was plain, it looked somewhat of the bathroom back at home, but it was way smaller! I promptly brushed my teeth, fixed my hair, and went to the bathroom. When I was washing my hands, I heard a slight shifting outside the door. I shrugged slightly, and gazed at the mirror for a few minutes, and then dashed outside of the bathroom.

When I was outside of the bathroom, I gazed up at the looming, shirtless, Tala. My eyes widened slightly as seeing him shirtless for the first time (hahaha, she didn't remember the other time!). "Um, hi, I'm just going to go...back into my room...yes...my part of the room...mhm...I'll...um..." I stuttered up at him. My voice was somewhat quiet, and my face blushed lightly. Tala cocked an eyebrow, and I silently walked towards my part of the room. I felt his gaze in my back as I uncomfortably made my way back. But, Tala isn't exactly a silent person when he wakes up.

"Kiko chan, what are you doing in here?" A tired voice broke out. My eyes widened more as I silently hoped to not see another one of my team members shirtless; but life is full of loss. Bryan was sitting on his bed staring at me, and he was shirtless. My face flushed a lot more, and I hurriedly ducked behind the curtain, and landed on my stomach. It kind of hurt and it made a lot of noise. But, the guys didn't ask what I was doing.

I played with my hair for a long time, waiting for the rest of them to get up, and then get dressed. In about half an hour, Tala knocked on my door and announced that hey were 'fully clothed'. I guess they figured out what had happened. I gingerly stepped back out, and kept my face lowered somewhat as I was still blushing lightly. 'Stupid me, stupid me, stupid me; why am I so weird that way?! I'm never going to survive here!' I thought wearily.

"Sorry for this morning, Kiko chan," Bryan said. I looked up at him, and nodded quickly. He then smirked, and Spencer chuckled softly. I gave him a confused look, and resumed staring at my feet. It was an awkward sort of silence afterwards, only did it become less awkward when Tala came back from where ever he was; of which I don't want to know, and said that we should get going on training soon. I glanced up at him, and nodded with a slight smile. He noticed this, and smiled faintly back at me. In a few more minutes, we were outside the door, and walking calmly towards the down stairs lobby. Shouts were heard behind us, but we didn't notice them much, and soon we were at the stairs to get to the lobby.

Once we were down there, we left the hotel straightaway and were on our way to our 'training spot'. The side walk was crowded, but it would soon get more crowded as the day wore on. We all came to a dark alley way, and continued down it soundlessly. Alleys don't reassure me that much, as sometimes I lived in them for a few nights. But, the rest of the team was around me, so I knew that I was safe. The alley was dark and it smelled of garbage and rotting food. Every now and then, a cat or something would jump down from its perch, and land softly on the ground. It then took off away from us. The sky was golden and auburn, insinuating that is was very early in the day. There were no clouds in the sky, and the Sun was high up in it beating down on us with its soft glow.

In a few minutes, we were at the end of the alley, and I was now staring at their, our, training area for the tournament. It was a rather large area for the ending of an alley; it was surprising really. There were trees all over the place, except for the random spots of bare sun-burnt grass. There were fallen logs dotted all over the place erratically. There was a small pool of murky water in one corner of the area with a nice small bank on one side of it. The water was a deep jade color.

As we stopped at the end of the alley and gazed at the scene in front of us, I felt Tala's Frostic gaze on my back. I shifted awkwardly under it, and remained scanning the area thoroughly. Tala soon broke the eerie silence by saying, "I'll help Kiko chan with her training, just to break her into it. The rest of you, go and start practising." They nodded, and Tala and I remained silently. He soon sighed deeply, and rested his hand lightly on my shoulder after the others' had left. "So, do you forgive me then?" I quickly turned around and glanced up at him. I nodded happily, and he smiled.

I was quickly lost in his smile, it seemed genuine. It was as if he were truly happy for a brief moment that seemed to last for a lot longer. It was as if he tried to put in all of his emotion into it; was he doing this for me? Why me, well, it might not even be for me though. Tala's smile dispersed like any normal smile would; it left at it's own time. But, the moment it was gone, I was hoping, longing for it to return to me.

AN: Kekeke! This chapter is longer then the other one's is it not? It is 5,491 words, and it still seems short, hn! So sad, my chapters are so short, I hate it! Oh well, you guys read it, so I guess their not THAT bad, right? Oh well, I meant to tell you guys something, I was asleep one night staring up at the ceiling, and it came to me: what if they don't know how old they are?! Well, I know that they have two ages, the Blitzkriegboys' I mean. And, I'm not sure if I've specified how old Kiko chan was, so, I'm going to tell you...Tala is 18, Spencer, and Bryan are both 19, and Ian, I'm guessing that he's 14 or 15. It just seems to me that Bryan and Spencer are both older then Ian and Tala, I mean, they're so tall! Ian was 12 or something in season one and the rest were 16 and 17, so add three years and you get their age. Kiko chan is 16; it just makes her closer to her team somewhat. She sounds and acts like one, yeah? Or she might sound/act older, yeah? Kai is 17, Tyson is 15, Max is 15, Ray is 16, Rin is 16, Kiyoko is 16, and so is Marissa. So, yeah! Hope you enjoyed this one! So, you will be reviewing, yeah? REVIEW ME! REVIEW REVIEW! I don't even care if it's one of those flames; you know the ones that only talk trash about it? Because it means that they read it, and that they took the time to pick out all the flaws in it, besides, it just makes me want to improve yeah? I have a feeling, that I'm only gunna get 4 reviews or something, and I want MORE! But, if I don't get three or more reviews, I won't post till I do! So, if you wish to keep on reading it, review me! YES, REVIEW ME! WAHAHA! Yes I know, unstable person, un. Cya later!


	27. Chapter 27

AN: I named this chapter that because farther down to the end it mentions it...and I felt that it was important right then. This is NOT the end of the story! So, keep on reading it, and please review me...

Chapter Twenty six: Rainfall RIP

Tala soon led me over to a section of trees in the training facility. Here, there were many logs lying around on the ground. As my icicle like eyes skimmed over the area; the rest of the team was no where to be seen. Tala quickly explained the procedure to me, and went over to another log to do it as well. It was mainly hit the log with as much controlled power as possible, and hit the target on it, too. With each time that you hit the target, you had to take a step back till he told me to stop; it reminded me of a game that children would play in younger grades. I started to giggle softly as we did this simultaneously. The purpose of this was to be able to hit the mark with a certain amount of power; so you had to make sure that you don't over do it, but you give it enough strength to make it move.

I'm not sure how long we did this. There was silence between us except for the unanticipated mumbles from each other or growls. As I advanced farther back from the log, I took some time to gaze at Tala as he beybattled. The way that his arm moved so quickly and powerfully gave shivers up my spine, but they were good shivers. I suddenly felt a little jealous of his power as I stood gawking at him mindlessly. He was built so perfectly accurate; he was made for this game. Unlike me, I wasn't made for it, I could barely handle my emotions while playing it, and sometimes it got on my nerves.

He never noticed my never-ending stare, thank goodness for that! We did this for a few minutes, 20 minutes at the highest. After that amount of time had passed, I quickly realized that the sky was now a pale blue; not morning anymore. There were now big fluffy clouds dotting the sky, and the bright sun was high over us. Tala glanced over at me, and smirked faintly. "Hey, Kiko chan, do you want a break now?" I smirked at him in return, and nodded quickly. I hate training; it's just another excuse to do something outside. He nodded, and called for Wolborg to return to his waiting hand. It came to him, and Tala turned to face me. I was busy calling Edragore back, and staring at him in my hand to notice Tala's un-moving gaze fixated on me. When I finally realized that someone was looking at me, Tala had already fixed his arctic gaze somewhere else. "We could call the rest of the team to see if they want to join in on our break." I nodded slightly to him, and he left to find the rest of the team.

I waited in agony for many more minutes, which soon passed to 15 minutes. Eventually, Tala came back to me, with no one else behind him. I raised an eyebrow, and he replied with a shrug. "They said that they wanted to continue training..." He looked at me again, but this time I was looking back. His deep polar eyes were so comforting to me. "So, it's just us two then, your fine with that, right?" I nodded happily up at him, and he nodded in turn. "Then, what do you...want to do...?" I cocked my head slightly at this question, what do I want to do?

'I have no answer to that...what does he mean anyways?! Like eat or something...or what exactly?!' Tala smirked more noticeably, and leaned against one of the nearby trees. I glanced up at him once more, and sheepishly smiled. Tala closed his eyes, and resumed leaning.

It was a few minutes later that Tala broke the silence with his crisp, clear, strong voice. "We could just sit down on a rock or something, it's calming and it's resting, that alright with you?" I nodded quickly, and he gently took my thin arm with his strong, large hand. He then led me to a path that had no trees on it, but had trees next to it. The path was very skinny, and made me feel claustrophobic for a while. But, we soon exited the pathway, and we appeared at a very wide clearing with some rocks set off to the side. Tala led me to a very large one with small ones surrounding it. He sat down and let go of my arm, I sat beside him calmly.

"Um, thanks, Tala kun." He glanced at me, and nodded slowly. 'Why is he sitting so close to me? How odd...how very odd...and people say he's emotionless!' I suddenly smirked, and kept my gaze locked onto the ground below me. Tala remained looking around the area, as if expecting something to happen. In a few minutes, it felt much longer I can assure you, he broke the silence once more.

"We'll be doing this other exercise with water next." My attention was captured, so I glanced up at him expecting an explanation of it. He got the message, and resumed talking, "you get on this plank or dock, and someone pushes you far into the water, and you practise your balance. Your beyblade is then released onto the water, and you have to keep it above the water for 5 minutes, then someone tows you back to the land." I nodded slowly to him; I absolutely hate water! It scares me so much, but he cannot know that! He nodded to me slowly, and got up from the rock. He nodded to me, and I got up as well. We then walked back to the entrance of the training area with me still worrying behind him.

He quickly led me over to the small pool of murky water that I had seen before upon entering this place. Tala gazed at the dock on the shore for a little bit, and then his gaze landed on me. I cautiously took a step forward, and did so until I was at his side. I self consciously grabbed my right arm with my left, and squeezed it tightly to help my nerves. He noticed this, and raised an eyebrow slightly. I avoided all eye contact and stared at the moving water unsteadily. He also took notice of this, and gently rested his strong hand on my shoulder. "I'm not going to let you drown or anything, okay?" I nodded again, and gingerly lifted my gaze to him. He nodded to me, and led me over to where the dock was closest. He then sat down and took his shoes, socks, and jacket off. He then rolled up his pant legs to his knees. Tala slowly got up, and cocked another eyebrow at me. I nodded, and slowly stepped onto the dock after he pulled it closer.

Once on the dock, I felt dizzy and uneasy. It was moving underneath me, and I couldn't hang onto anything to steady myself. Tala slowly began shoving the dock forward. He did so until the water was just at his waist. I gawked at him vaguely; he was such a small waist! He lifted his gaze to me, and nodded, signalling that I was to take my beyblade out, and start 'blading. I did as I was told to do, and quickly assembled my beyblade. I fished around my pony tail to find my rip cord. I failed at finding it, so Tala reached up to me and gaze me his own. I blushed faintly, and took it cautiously from him. He just nodded, and waited for me to continue. I sighed deeply, and quickly launched my 'blade. It skimmed the surface of the murky water, and made small ripples making it harder to keep my already unsteady balance. Tala gently grabbed my leg and helped keep my stability.

After 5 minutes or so, Tala called up to me, "okay, you can stop now." I flashed him a quick, relieved smile, and called for Edragore to come back to me. He came back quickly, and Tala started towing me back to shore.

"Um, Tala kun, thanks for allowing me to use your ripcord, mine must be somewhere else." He nodded and smiled faintly back at me. I smiled yet again, and watched him tow me back. His arms were huge! Well, not huge, but they weren't exactly skinny and wimpy either. His black muscle shirt was sticking to his chest slightly, which gave the impressions of his muscles. Wow, they were awesome! I know that I saw them earlier that day but, this time I was ready to stare! In a few minutes, the red headed Russian had towed me back, and I was now lying on the ground trying to get my mind back. I felt really dizzy from the experience. Tala was sitting beside me calmly staring at the water with his arctic eyes.

In a matter of second, we were up and training again. What we trained for doesn't matter; training's boring anyways! (I personally felt as if this was getting slightly boring, and now shall write what has happened after wards!)

After Training

Tala, Bryan, Spencer, Ian, and I all walked silently down the sidewalks of Tokyo Japan. The night sky above us was enough to give anyone a heart ache. It was so beautiful one could and would get themselves lost in its sensation. The stars above us were like small glinting pieces of steel. It was a virtually silent night as we strode past the colourful shops around us. We stopped at a particularly superlative shop that didn't have many people in it. As we gawked mindlessly at it, I realized that none of us had eaten since two days ago, and yet I didn't hunger for any sustenance. As unobtrusively as we came, we had left unnoticed from the corners of it. Once we had appeared at the hotel's doors, and made our way up the stairs like soldiers, we began deciding on what to eat.

Our normal diet wasn't exactly a regular thing; we ate when we thought we needed to; even so, I usually just ate with Ian or Spencer. This was going to be different eating with all of them. We rarely ate like this, even when I wasn't around, they almost never ate as one whole team. I've heard from many that normal teams do that; almost like a family. Family; the word pained me to hear, even to think of it, it aggrieved me. In a final moment of truth before we entered the room with no light, I realized that family was something that I no longer had, and yearned for at the same time.

The room that was ours was completely filled with black darkness. It swallowed us as we entered the room. Bryan quickly turned on the lights as we made way farther into the area. Spencer quickly went into the kitchen area, and searched the drawers for the menu for room service. Tala motioned for us to all sit at the table and for Spencer to bring the menu with him. We did as we were told, and quickly decided our food. We were to have some kind of Russian food. They never told me what it was, only reassured me that I had it before hand at their place. How they ever found out what I ate was beyond me; maybe Ian told them? As we waited for the room service, we turned on the TV and watched the beyblade stats go by. Only a handful of the teams I knew: BEGA, G Revolutions, White Tiger X, the Majestics, and our own team. It's sad I know, but I honestly don't pay that much attention to the media; it gets boring after a while.

When I glanced over at Tala, I realized that his wintry eyes had narrowed when the name 'Nefarious Blades' came up. My team suddenly became tense as the part where their names came up said: 'none named'. I didn't know at the time why they had become tense and dark. My mood suddenly began to slip as well; it was like a drug because they were depressed and serious and it had passed on to me. In the midst of all of it, we vaguely heard a small knock on the door of which was ours. I jumped slightly, and the others had barely noticed it. Tala quickly switched his gaze and locked it on the door. Tala quickly scanned the team and watched for any one to jump at the chance to answer the door and escape the gaucheness of the room. He sighed deeply, and quickly got up to answer it.

I overheard him mumble a low and unenthusiastic 'hi' and paid the man what he was supposed to receive. Tala came back in and placed the steaming hot Russian sustenance on the kitchen table. He quickly came back in, and gently rested his hand on my shoulder. I startled, yet again, and looked up into his eyes. What I saw above me was more startling then him placing his hands on my thin shoulders; his eyes weren't icy...but yet deep cobalt blue. It transfixed me entirely and made me lose myself for a few moments of complete and utter astonishment.

Now, Tala had long since left me when I was still gawking up at the now empty space above my head. Ian, Bryan and Spencer were already at the table and dishing out their food. Ian noticed that I hadn't joined them yet, and ran back over to me. He lightly taped me on the shoulder, and I almost instantly snapped out of it. My Frostic gaze soon landed on him, and I calmly cocked an eyebrow; I had already forgotten the point of my waiting. Spencer started to chuckle deeply, and Bryan smirked playfully. Tala just sighed, and sat down at the table. By now Bryan and Spencer both had sat down too. "Are you ready to eat now, Kiko chan?" I quickly nodded upon remembering the point of my waiting once more. Ian hastily led me over to the table where Tala had already got my food out on a platinum plate in front of me.

I began to gawk at the dish before me; it looked so out of place! The room was Japanese, but the food was Russian. It looked so pieced together that it was almost picture perfect. The steam rising up from it made thin circles in the still air surrounding us. After a moment of silence, we all began eating. Now, like I had said before, I already ate with Ian and sometimes Spencer. Spencer ate rather respectfully, which was fitting because he was also a polite man. Ian ate oddly, sometimes he ate really fast and pigishly, other times he'd eat slowly and politely almost. I smirked somewhat as I put the tempting mouthful of food in my mouth. My glacial gaze was watching the rest of my team eat. Tala ate slowly and civilly, but he put a lot into his mouth at a time so he could finish off his plate quickly. Bryan ate somewhat courteously, just so that nothing hung out of his mouth, came out of his nose, or anything fall on his shirt. But, he did eat rather quickly and sometimes made an odd grunting noise. I ate like Ian; but was more mannerly than him. So, I didn't talk with my mouth full; unlike Ian, nothing fell onto my shirt, also unlike Ian, and you couldn't usually find anything hanging from my mouth.

It was a very quiet dinner that night, one of my quietest in a long time; not since when we first met. Tala had noticed that it was slightly awkward for me, and decided to break the silence with a very casual question. "How was everyone's day then?" I could have spat out all the food in my mouth at him then. How was my day? How am I to answer that without sounding weird? Wow, he must really be observational to know how awkward it was. Bryan, Spencer, and Ian all looked up at him swiftly as soon as the words parted from his lips.

I had soon swallowed the food in my mouth, and it looked as if Bryan had just swallowed his, "my day, Tala san?" Tala nodded as Bryan asked this to reassure himself of what he had just heard. I still couldn't believe that he said it! "Well, training went well, no injuries or incidents. Other then training, all we did was sleep in the morning and make Kiko chan," he nodded in my direction, "feel awkward." A mischievous smile spread across his mouth as my face flushed lightly. Why did he need to remind me of that moment, that very awkward moment for me? I starred down at my hands now on my lap, and pretended to not hear Spencer snicker.

"My day was pretty much the same as Bryan's, but I didn't get to make her feel awkward..." Ian replied after a moment of laughter. I blushed heavier at the last comment, and finally gave up on trying to hide the fact of my complete awkwardness. Ian smirked as my face lifted to glare at him jokingly again. Bryan's smile turned into a big, childish grin! Ian's expression quickly turned into the same. Spencer laughed even more now! And, Tala started to chuckle, too! Oh the humiliation! You know its bad when you've got the Blitzkriegboys laughing at you; or maybe its just really funny...or maybe this was their way of saying 'we like you, Kiko chan'.? Either way, I felt awkward.

"Um well...my day was...interesting...from your guys' laughing problems...to training all bloody day! It's so boring; how on earth do you guys manage?" Tala's slight laughter had now quieted down, and I wanted to hear it again as soon as it left his mouth. He didn't show happiness that much, so it was a joyous thing to have reached my ears. Bryan's smirk was still pasted onto his lips, and Ian remained grinning, Spencer also randomly snickered sometimes.

Tala's face was now very serious as he gazed across the table at the many jovial people surrounding him. "We've just been raised to train like that everyday, was it too hard for you, Kiko chan?" I shook my head and began grinning too; seeing him act like this was very pleasing. He simply nodded, and snaked in a small smirk as well. "Good, we don't want to push you too hard and cause you to get injured." I nodded happily, and resumed eating. The rest of the time we spent at that table was spent chewing and swallowing our food.

After dinner, we all went to our own beds, and did whatever we pleased. Bryan gazed at his beyblade and started talking to Spencer as he starred up at the ceiling. Ian was busy stroking his revolver and would pip in whenever he thought best in Bryan's and Spencer's conversation. I was brushing my hair and smoothing out my shirt; it got ruffled when we started eating.

My hair was soon so brushed that I didn't need to pull on it anymore. I sighed lowly to myself, and reached up to my hair and began collecting all strands of hair into a pony tail. In ten minutes my hair band was ready to be put in, which I did, and suddenly got bored again. 'There's not much to do here is there; how do they live their sober lives so...easily?! It's suffocating me!' I absentmindedly started whining somewhat as my thoughts trailed on from there over how boring and pointless brushing my hair and doing nothing was! Apparently, my whining got louder then I had expected it to, because Tala came into my part of the room, and gently laid his hand on my thin shoulder. I jumped a lot from the unexpected touch.

"Kiko chan, you've been whining in here for a little while, are you alright?" I nodded slightly, and he seemed to relax more from that little bit of information. He then glanced around the room with his wondrous, Frostic gaze. I quietly turned around and watched him with a mirror reflection of his own gaze. He soon met mine, and smiled faintly to me. I calmly made my way towards him, and stood in front of him silently. He stood way taller then me, and therefore he was looking down on me, and I was looking up at him.

Tala's POV

I stood there gazing into her eyes for what seemed endless to me. They were like small vortexes of mystic blue and grey. A storm seemed to brew in her irises; no, not just any storm, an ice storm. She only stood a few feet below me; actually she was only at the higher part of my chest. She was so close to me, and yet so far away. What did I know about her exactly, where she came from, her family, virtually nothing else. I don't know her age, what her bitbeast was or her attacks; well not to the degree of where I was sated. There was so much I yearned to know about her, and yet...for the first time of my life...I think I was afraid to ask. As if she might crumble from my touch...or feel betrayed or angered by my words; what was this feeling? It was guilt, anger, sadness, a fleeting moment of happiness...no matter how hard I tried to place this feeling, I couldn't.

After a long time, or as it appeared to be, I couldn't handle myself anymore. I quietly breathed, and in my softest and most genuine of voices with a very select few words, I said, "I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to go take a walk. Don't wait up for me, if you need anything, just ask the others." I then turned from her penetrating gaze that almost pierced my soul, and left the curtained area as quietly as I had came inside. I marched over to my own bed, and bent down to place my combat boots on. My icicle like eyes glimpsed over at my comrades as they conversed, not so silently. With little more then an insignificant nod, I left the room discreetly.

My boots clambered up the halls and down the stairs. The only sound heard were my heavy footsteps reverberating along with my own shallow breathing. I was lost in turmoil as to what my emotions were and what they meant. Why had they sprung up now, why now when the tournament was so close and so very important? We had to beat the G Revolutions, they had Kai on their team; he had betrayed us like he had so long ago, back when I had been 16. They also had Tyson, he's been a thorn in my side for the last three years; he's been winning this tournament for as long as I've known him; three straight years. And who knows what their new member has in store for us; either way, they were quite a powerful team to combat against.

I knew of all the other teams, but right now, they just didn't seem as essential to worry about at the current moment. A deep, sorrowful sigh escaped me, my eyes were a dull pale blue, and my stature seemed hunched over and lifeless. I looked sleep-deprived and my attempts to hide my worry and weariness were in vain. My facade was losing to my inner emotions and stress. This tournament was stressing, the unknown emotions were stressing, and the fact that I knew next to nothing about my team mates was stressing me out as well.

My gaze gradually lifted to face the sky above me. In all of its wonder, it seemed so at peace. Its blackness was comforting, and its small lights flickering above me helped to ease my worry only a little. But, quickly afterwards, all the emotions of worry and stress came back, and I felt weary quickly. I gently placed my hands on my forehead, and closed my polar eyes once more; what was I doing here when I could be training or figuring out what our training schedule would be for tomorrow.

"Tala kun, why are you out here in this cold all alone?" A small feeble voice cried out. I had been immune from the chilling cold for quite an extensive amount of time. But, as soon as the words parted their lips, my body grew cold and numb from the bitter wind ripping past my body. I sighed lowly, and turned around to 'greet' the one who dared speak to me. But, as soon as my frozen eyes caught sight of the person trailing me, my anger ceased. Apparently, Kiko chan had followed me, she didn't have her trench coat on, nor did she have any kind of jacket to protect her frail body from the cold. My eyes softened as hers were already gentle as she gazed upon me.

"I was just thinking, Kiko chan, nothing to worry about. But, why did you follow me out here without a jacket or anything?!" I couldn't help my voice from rising slightly as I spoke; it was just a normal thing for me to do now. My rank as team captain has made me raise my voice on several occasions; therefore I didn't think it to be wrong.

Her eyes followed my every movement as I slowly approached her. "Tala kun, it was kind of worrisome for you to suddenly leave me, and then to stumble on you out here at night increased my worry. You don't seem the type to just leave without saying good bye, so I just-"

I cut her off with a single glance of my subzero eyes. She stared at them as if they were a new concept for her. It made me uneasy and somewhat perplexed that someone like her would stare at me as if the world was going to end. Yeah, if the world were going to end in the last ten minutes, I highly doubt anyone would want to spend it with me, nonetheless even think of me. "Tala kun, I...your eyes are very..." here it comes, the words I have been told all of my life, 'scarring, frightful, monstrous, cold, and evil.' "Beautiful to look at, they're just so mysterious and wonderful to get lost in." Her voice seemed far off, as if she were in deep thought about something, probably something I'll never learn about; I'm not worthy for anyone to tell me their secrets, I can't be trusted due to my own deformity,

"But, if you were thinking, do you wish for me to leave you? 'Cause I can, I mean, it doesn't mean I want to, I'm just saying that sometimes people like to be alone..." I was instantly snapped up from my thoughts as her serene voice broke out. I studied her for a minute longer, and then sighed once more. To be quite honest, no one truly enjoys being alone, no matter how much they think they like it. Being alone is one of the worst pains anyone could ever feel, and unfortunately, there's almost no cure for some people.

"Kiko chan, if you want to follow me, you can. I don't care if you do or not." What I said and what I meant were two different things. I wanted to ask her to stay with me for a while longer, just so that I could feel the presence of someone beside me for once in my desolate life. Her eyes lifted up to my own, and a smile caressed her lips.

"Tala kun, I'd very much enjoy it if I could walk with you till we go back to the hotel." My surprised look said everything; and my guess was that she understood it. I nodded, and turned around to continue walking. Kiko chan quietly strode beside me this time.

A few hours later

I wasn't sure how long we were out for, but by the time we came back, the rest of the team was already asleep. I casually glanced at the clock beside me, and was surprised to find that it was midnight. Kiko chan was standing at the foot of my bed, shivering relentlessly. Seeing her like that...with a smile on her face...stirred something inside me; it was partially guilt, but it was also ecstasy. I felt guilty over having her walk with me and almost getting frozen, but I felt pleasure from it because she stayed with me even though she was freezing. I slowly got up from my bed, and took off my ivory, royal blue, and tangerine jacket and placed it over her thin, shivering shoulders. She looked up at me and smiled; now, obviously the jacket was way too big for her, but it was heavy so it also kept her warm.

"Thank you, Tala kun," she whispered. I nodded, and watched her with frosty eyes. She was indeed beautiful; too attractive to ever be on this team for good. What was a girl this young and that striking doing on this team? She was nice, warm when she wants to be, pretty, not quite as violent as any of us, she was easy to get along with, and so much more of everything we were made to be. She caught my look, and cocked her head somewhat in absolute uncertainty. I motioned towards the curtained area of the room, and turned back around to go to bed myself. "Um, Tala kun, do you want your jacket back?" I turned back around, and gazed at her one last time before I went to sleep.

"No, its fine, you can keep it until tomorrow, and then I'll need it back." She smiled at me, and started towards her side of the room. Then she stopped, and said one more thing before disappearing from my vision,

"Good night, Tala kun." And then she was gone. I was left bewildered; no one had said that to me before. Sometimes when we were training we lost track of time and came home this late, and no one had ever said that to me. A small smile broke out on my pale face, and I bent down to my bed. Once I had sat on it and my shoes were off, I laid down on it, and pulled the covers up to my chest, and from there, I went to sleep.

Kiko's POV

It was very cold outside when Tala kun and I walked around mindlessly. We had short conversations, but overall, the silence wasn't bad. I smiled gently as I recaptured the moments we shared together. He wasn't as emotionless as they said he was, even though I already knew that before, but once again, I was amazed at how wrong they really were. He may be quiet, but everyone can be at times. At least he does talk, some don't at all.

I abstractedly walked to my bed, and sat down on its mahogany covers. 'I can't believe that he gave me his jacket! It is so warm, no wonder he doesn't take it off. But, it fits him; it doesn't even come close to fitting me, too bad though. I'm more of a trench coat wearer anyways.' I calmly began taking my pony tail down and absentmindedly started brushing my thick, medium brown hair. It was soon so well brushed that I didn't even need my brush. I calmly put it down beside me, and sighed deeply; this certainly was an interesting day. First, I got the pleasure to see all of my team shirtless, and then I trained relentlessly with Tala kun, we then came home and watched TV while waiting for our dinner to arrive, but in doing so a new team came up and everyone became tense, we had short talk while eating, and then Tala kun and I went for a walk, which ended up with me having his jacket. Yes, it was a truly fascinating day.

I quickly began taking off his jacket, and the cold air around me seeped into my skin. I started shivering again, and hastily scanned the area for my PJ's. I found them, and quickly changed into my black, baggy pants with my black tank top with wide straps. As soon as I was finished changing, I put the jacket on and crawled across my bed to the head of it. Once there, I sat there and pulled my knees to my chest. I gently rested my head on my knees and my arms hugged my legs self-consciously. My eyes closed, and I breathed in slowly to help myself relax.

What seemed to me a few minutes, lasted for much longer. I was waken to someone roughly shoving my shoulder. "Mm, what the-"I mumbled tiredly. My frosty eyes rested on Spencer in front of me. Spencer's expression was serious, and he seemed stressed a little.

"Kiko chan, we need you to wake Tala san up! Everything we try has no effect on him; hopefully you can wake him up..." I nodded slowly, and attempted to wipe the sleep from my eyes. I gradually threw my legs over the side of my bed, and began pulling my hair back into a very messy pony tail. Spencer had gotten hold of my arm, and gently dragged me towards the other room.

Their side of the room wasn't messy, but was rather clean. Bryan and Ian were looming over Tala kun's head in a very nerving way. Ian looked as if he was going to hit him, and Bryan looked as if he were going to fall over on him. "Tala, wake up! We're late for training, get up!" Bryan started yelling. Ian stopped as his gaze landed on me. Bryan didn't seem to notice. As they were yelling, Spencer tugged me over to where they were.

"Bryan san, I got Kiko chan awake, she can attempt to wake him up, you just go and calm down." Bryan's angry teal eyes flashed up at him, and then rested on me. He mumbled something course, and wandered somewhere else. Ian jumped off of the bed, and walked over to join Bryan. Spencer nodded to me, and let go of my thin and now in pain arm. His grip was so icy and strong, it hurt eventually even if he didn't mean it.

I moved past him silently, and gently placed a knee on Tala's bed. I started poking his face, and with no luck, had stopped and dropped my knee from his bed. My eyes absently moved up to the ceiling, and remained there for a little while. A thought suddenly came to me, and I glanced down at him once again. He was sleeping so soundly, it looked as if this was the only time he could be at peace with himself. I gently placed my small hand on his face, and began to 'pet' him. He moved slightly, and moved onto his back; it was beginning to work. I continued to do so, and in a low and gentle voice, started talking to him as well, being careful to not say his name in the process.

"Hey, you need to wake up now. We need you to wake up, please do it. If you can hear me, please do something to let me know of it. I want to hear your voice, and I want to see your beautiful eyes." I kept on repeating things like that, till his eyes started flinching (the thing that happens when you blink in your sleep). I smiled softly, and in a few minutes, he opened his wonderfully blue eyes. He stared out for a moment, and then he rested his eyes on me. "Hi, Tala kun, how was your sleep?" He moved slightly, and got into a sitting position.

"Hi, I had a very nice...sleep." I nodded and smiled happily. By now, the rest of my team was already in the kitchen, and Tala and I were left alone. I smiled and nodded to him, and then left his side and into my part of the room. I sighed yet again, and changed into black jeans with a black T-shirt with red markings on the back that resembled a dragon. I quickly placed all of my spikers, chains, etc on me, and fixed my hair. In about 15 minutes, I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and such. In a few more minutes, I was done, and walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen area.

Tala was already in the kitchen, without his jacket, and talking to the team on something that was halted once I came into their view. This struck me as odd; why would they keep something secret from me? Was I not trust worthy? Maybe I need to prove my credulity to them...or maybe they just never earned to trust another person with their secrets, their fears, their weaknesses.

I stopped walking and nodded to the, in which they nodded in return. "We'll be leaving soon, you alright with that?" I nodded and my eyes shone happily up at them. But, in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder what they must keep from everyone deep inside, and how much torment they must keep from protecting it. I wish I could take their pain away, even just a little...but I can't as I'm only human...I'm not God...and I sometimes wonder if even talking to them can help. If talking to them has caused this weariness...then maybe I should stop trying...and just leave it as it may be...leave it to rest and leave them to rest in peace.

Tala had already walked out of the door, and so had the rest of my team. We were walking along painfully slow, when out of the blue, I bumped into someone. Well, we bumped into something...it was the White Tigers and the G Revolutions...Kat and Kiyoko...what happened now?

AN: Please review! REVIEW ME PLEASE! I was doing homework till 5! It sucks! Oh well, my hand stopped hurting now! Cya, and the next chapter will be coming soon!


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter twenty eight: Inaudible

(I'm sorry I couldn't figure out a decent title for this, it was hard, so, now for the story!)

I casually moved my head to the side to get a better look at what was happening up ahead. I saw nothing but the backs of strangers and a few friends. Nothing eased my mind now, what was keeping us? "There appears to be some kind of trouble a head of us, maybe we should all just go back to our rooms and forget about training today," the boy who Kat called Ray said. Tala just narrowed his eyes at him, and Ray seemed to just not care. His golden eyes gleamed across to him, and his calm composure seemed to match Spencer's. This took me by surprise; I didn't know anyone could match his perfect calm attitude; to think that there are five of them in the world; Kat, Kiyoko, Spencer, and now Ray; they were so calm, they were almost emotionless, but I knew that it wasn't that simply put...

My gaze slowly drifted down to Bryan, who watched Ray with his serious teal eyes. It was as if he were checking for his safety, or expecting Ray to suddenly lunge out at him. Then my Frostic eyes lowered down to Tala, who was still glaring at them all, and Ian was playing with his sniper rifle. I sighed deeply, and my gaze moved over to everyone else. Kat was leaning against a wall with her arms crossed and her icicle like eyes watching our every move. Kiyoko was sitting on the ground playing with her long violet hair wrapped up in a black cloth. The one named Kai was standing with his back turned to us, but it looked as if his arms were crossed as well. The one with the red hat was standing beside Ray and keeping a steady brown eyed gaze on my own team.

I shuffled lightly in my stance, and began looking around the hallway without moving my head. It was so bare! All around us was white, only white! Who in this sickingly vain hotel made the mistake of painting everything white?! My eyes slowly rested on everyone else around me; how they made my stomach lurch! They were all happy and vain to all of the pains of this world; they knew nothing...or maybe they knew more of it, and decided to forget it all? I could never do such a thing; I'm not a forgiving person, and I don't forget any wrongs against me! Call me a horrible person for that, I don't care. Care, if I stopped caring over many things in my life, maybe I wouldn't be here.

"Hey, Kiko chan, what do you think of this?" I was soon startled from my thoughts as Kat chan had finally talked to me. I quickly regained my facade, and shrugged slightly to her question. To tell you the truth, I honestly didn't know what to feel now, or what to think of it. It seemed like an over-played video game with many glitches. Everything seemed so normal, and yet so strange. It was like I had already grown accustomed to this life style, and yet it seemed full of mistakes.

"I honestly don't know what to think of this situation...what exactly is going on out there?" She shrugged in return, and narrowed her piercing eyes at Tala. I cocked my head slightly, and turned around to see what he was doing.

His eyes were filled with ire now; it looked as if he was never calm. His fists were shaking slightly as Ray kept on talking over mindless gibberish. My gaze softened though, as Kat's grew untrusting. "Kiko chan, I don't want you to spend a lot of time with that guy," she nodded to him, "I know that he's your captain and all, but I don't trust him." I kept my own calm gaze on her, and smiled softly. I gently shoved her aside, and walked towards Tala kun again. Kat just watched in vain as I left her side and joined his. I quietly placed my thin arms around his skinny waist.

Bryan's gaze was quickly ripped away from Ray and switched almost immediately to me. Ray's golden eyes landed on me, too. Tala's fists stopped shaking, and I smiled softly. Tala moved slightly which caused me to be thrown in front of him. He gently placed a strong hand on my shoulder as I clung to him peacefully. As I glanced over towards Kat with a slightly raised eyebrow; she nodded calmly, and walked away to where she was originally leaning. I smiled contently, and glanced up at Tala; his gaze was somewhere else, but he seemed a lot cooler then before.

A lot more talk was made before Tala finally gave up, and led us back to our hotel room. I had let go of him when we started walking back, and Bryan had long since tore his gaze away from me. We calmly entered our room, and Spencer closed the door behind us. "Kiko chan...Why did you-"Ian was soon stopped mid-sentence by a simple look from Tala and Bryan.

"No, it's alright, I just wanted to prove a point to a friend of mine...and I didn't let go because I though that he didn't want me to..." Truth is I didn't want to either; I loved hugging guys! They were just so different to hold then to hug girls...I glanced up at Tala and the rest of the team, they nodded to me, and Tala turned his back to me. He quickly left us in the kitchen area and sauntered over to his bed. My eyes followed him whilst Bryan, Spencer, and Ian had all sat around the table and began discussing something in quick paced Russian. Sighing desolately, I wandered over to my part of the room, and slipped past it noiselessly.

In my room, I exhaled quietly, and scanned the room effortlessly. It was almost just as plain as the hallway, only it made me slightly dreary. I suddenly found myself wandering over to my bed, and sitting down on it inaudibly. I heaved a sigh slowly, and then I leaned back against my bed. 'Did I do something wrong to anger Tala kun? I certainly hope not, but, I guess if I did, I'd never know. I wonder, does Tala kun even acknowledge the fact that I had hugged him? Yeah, I think he did because he placed his hand on me. Man, he has such strong hands! Who knew, eh? Maybe he felt as if I only hugged him to spite Kat, well, it started that way, but ended in me wanting him to hold me in return. Why do I feel this way, and why now of all times?! I have to focus on the team and on training, not my emotions, friends or Tala kun! Even if the only thing I want to do is feel his powerful arms around my thin frame. No, stop thinking like this, it's not me, it's not me, its not me! I'm not like this!' As I continued to bring siege upon myself in my mind, I slowly began to drift off to a feuding sleep.

I rolled over onto my side while thinking of many circumstances where he'd have to hug me. But, in my dreams, whenever he did, he always pushed me away. I was always lost to him, and he was always blind to my feelings towards him.

A few hours later

I rolled off of my bed, and slammed down onto the floor beside me. From the sudden impact and unexpected pain rippling up my one side of myself, I slowly opened my misty eyes. I glanced around uncertainly, and slowly got up into a sitting position. I yawned slightly, and craned my neck to hear anything coming from the opposite room. There was nothing heard from it. Worry seeped into me; had they left me alone again? I scrambled up to get a better view of my clock. The red digital letters read: 11:37 am.

I quietly placed a hand on my head, and resumed to scratch it softly. I turned from my clock, and walked out into the other room opposite my own. There didn't seem to be anyone in here; yup, they left me alone again! I sighed deeply, and walked over to the kitchen table, there was a note on it. I suspiciously glanced around, and finding nothing out of ordinary, picked up the letter and began to read:

_Dear Kiko chan,_

_ We didn't want to wake you up, and wanted to resume our training too. So, we didn't go to our usual place, but went to the BBA training facility; it's just down stairs. You don't have to train today, so you don't have to come and find us. When or if you find us, please do not get angry at us, because we did leave you a not this time!-_thispart of the letter changed from its other handwriting_-Sorry, Ian took the pen from me, stupid Ian. If you do want to find us, you can ask the front desk for the directions to the facility. If you can't find us there, then we're probably in the restaurant or something. _

_-Spencer_

I smiled softly; his writing was different then Tala's and it was in English too! Spencer's writing was neat and very to the point of things; it was also slanted to the left and not the right like Tala's. Ian's was choppy and just over all messy. It looked as if a small child wrote it; but he was rather short...I quickly dismissed the thought, and replaced the letter on the table. I sighed, and placed my hands on my hips, and turned on my heel. I quickly ran back to my part of the area, and grabbed my beyblade and launcher; my rip cord was already in my hair.

With my medium length, silken brown hair trailing behind me gracefully, I sprinted out of the door and slammed it behind me. I took off down the snowy hallway now looking for my team. 'You know, for a team that's so closed off, they sure enjoy leaving me notes!' I thought as I ran down the bleached hall. I turned a corner sharply, and almost ran into someone; of whom I didn't know of yet.

"Um, I'm sorry, are you okay?" I said as I dodged backwards to not collide with him. He just glanced up at me with his deep jade eyes. I cocked my head, and for a brief moment, I forgot about why I was out here. He shrugged, and moved aside for me to get by, and he resumed walking along the hallway, alone. I stood there where he had left me, and finally got up the courage to turn around and ask him his name. He turned around when I called out, and his emotionless face showed nothing but unaffectedness almost a mirror reflection of Tala when he never smiled.

"My name is Zeo Zaggart," he said, and with that, he said no more and turned back around.

"My name is Kiko Wieler, see you later, Zeo san!" I called as my memory returned to me and I quickly ran down the hallway once more. I was soon down the stairs, sprinting so fast that I had almost tripped and fell down them, too. When I was at the bottom, I tore across the lobby, and in the direction of the training room.

Outside it was raining and bright electricity filled the dark skies. Thunder shook the building, and the lightening flooded the lobby. The rain was making a wonderful repeating sound of many small drums in the making. The thunder was like a large drum only exceeding the sound limit of one of the midnight clubs. The added light was starting to anger me; light was for nerds.

I soon stopped running, and breathed heavily while scanning the hallways for any sign for the training facility. There was nothing, no sign, no markings, nothing! It was starting to get annoying when all of the corridors began to look the same too; maybe I was hallucinating? I shook my head in disbelief; you needed to be over heated for that to happen, right? In around half an hour, I was utterly lost; so pathetic! I casually began strolling down the hallways, not really caring if I found my way back again. Let's just say, some things are better when you just don't care, because, upon all of normality, I found the big, giant doors that had large red letters saying 'Beyblade Training Room'. Was I dense or something?

Sighing dejectedly, I pushed the heavy doors open, and gazed at the sight before me. Beyond those doors were many teams and all were training relentlessly. My team, Neoborg, were all lifting weights and keeping their sights low. The White Tiger X team was on the treadmills; it seemed to me that they were running faster then most would expect. My eyes then followed up to the G Revolutions who were resting or something near the White Tiger X's. Bega was doing different things according to their mood; Brooklyn and Marissa were sitting on a bench and talking, Garland had head phones on and was doing what looked like marshal arts, Ming-Ming was talking to Mystel, who was also on the treadmills. As my gaze landed on each individual doing what ever the heck they wanted, I realized that maybe I should be training along with them. There were these two that had the same outfit on (not in a perverted sense!), and they were arguing with these two who looked like they might be twins. Others were doing many other things.

'So, I'm on Neoborg, a team that trains 24/7, and I'm not training. Bega, the team that supposedly doesn't, is training, well most of them are. G Revolution was training, and so were the White Tiger X's; no surprises there. I feel so out of place right now, so VERY out of place. It seems like I'm watching everything from the back ground, or on TV.' I thought sullenly.

Finally, someone's head snapped up and they noticed my lone figure standing in the entrance way with my arms crossed and a dazed look on my face (wow, that'd be an interesting thing to see). "Hey, Kiko chan, come over here!" A strong voice came out through the many different, un-natural sounds of people training. I broke out of my thoughts and rested my stare on Bryan who had summand me over; as if I were a jinee. But, nevertheless, I came over to them anyways.

My footsteps weren't heard overtop of everyone's 'working'. Once I was near them, my nose started twitching; they smelled so horribly! "What are you doing here, Kiko chan? I mean, you absolutely detest training," I snapped my eyes to him, my nose still twitching lightly. Bryan smirked at me, another one of those 'I-cannot-wait-to-embarrass-you' kinds of smiles, "and it looks as if you don't like our sweat either..." I made a very disgusted look, and Spencer managed a small smile.

"Who in their right minds do?" Bryan shrugged, and he looked down again. Tala had locked his glacial eyes onto me ever since he knew that I was there. I was confused by his look, and after a few minutes, accomplished the task of staring down at the ground below me. It was a grey carpeted floor; they really had no taste in colors did they? "So, when are we going to go back?" I said after a long minute of silence.

Tala had long since looked down again, but now he looked back up at me with his arctic eyes. Bryan shrugged slightly, and Spencer said nothing. Ian had stopped once I had approached them earlier to start cleaning his rifle. "Whenever we want to, I guess, you can leave whenever you wish, Kiko chan, we're not keeping you here," was his reply to my inquiry.

'I guess he really doesn't notice that I came down here to find them, THEM! Maybe he or they just don't understand that I don't go out to find just anybody; why would I leave them now?' I shuffled uneasily in my position, and my gaze drew back towards the carpeted floor beneath me.

"Um, Tala kun, there's not exactly anything better to do around here, is there? I mean, I don't enjoy training, but that doesn't mean I won't train, so when will we be leaving again?" Spencer smirked up at me once again. My gaze eventually drifted back up to them when no answer parted their lips. I was startled by what they were doing now; Tala had put his weight down, and resumed to sit comfortably. Spencer stopped lifting his weight, and Bryan put his weight down too. Ian quickly stopped cleaning his sniper rifle, and had resumed staring up at me.

"Well, we have a lot of daylight time left...erm...day left...we could all just do the tread mill now." I smiled happily as Tala said those words. I nodded, and let my eyes follow my team as they got up, and headed towards the tread mills. I, of course, followed them, and stopped beside them as we waited for everyone to get off.

Eventually, Ray noticed, and called his team to go off in search of somewhere to take a break. Tala gallantly stepped onto one, and took off his jacket. 'Wait, why does he have his jacket? Did he find it in my room, and then take it when I was asleep? Weird!' I thought as I stepped onto the one beside him. He glanced over at me, and then turned his treadmill on. The other team that had been on these before had politely changed the quickness of it back to normal speed. I turned mine on after watching Tala run peacefully. 'He's so awesome!' Bryan was running beside me, and beside him were Spencer and Ian. Ian looked as if he was going to fly off the thing! Before long, I was already sweating; running was not my strong suit.

After training

(Training still bores me, how...my attention span is short) I calmly followed my team as we left the training facility. They all looked normal, sweaty but normal. I looked tired and bored, not to mention sweaty; how convenient. Tala's combat boots clambered up the stairs leading us back the way we had came; well except for me, I just got lost. Once we had reached our floor, Ian and Spencer began bickering again; how they enjoy it. Bryan, Tala and I just kept walking silently. "Um, can I take a shower when we get back?" I whispered to them.

Tala glanced back at me, and Bryan shrugged. "Yes, Kiko chan, and you don't have to ask us, alright?" I nodded, and the silence continued to envelope us. In around 5 minutes, we had reached our destination, and Tala opened the door to our room. It looked exactly how I had left it; even the note was still there. I casually walked past them and into my part of the room, and came back out with different clothes underneath my arm. "Hey, Kiko chan, we're thinking of going out for dinner today, is that alright with you?" Tala called to me as I made my way towards the bathroom. I connected my gaze with his, and nodded. With a small smile, I entered the bathroom, and quickly locked the door behind me.

Bryan's POV

I watched silently as she disappeared. Now it was going to be silent, and Tala would once again be cold and rash. It's strange when I think about how we are when she's not around, or before we met her. We almost never talked to each other, till she began asking questions about us and talking to us. Last night when we were playfully teasing her, I simply cannot remember us doing that in front of Tala san before. Maybe she was to be trusted after all. 'No, remember what Boris san did? He treated you almost the same way...nice at first and then he became malicious. She might do the same thing to you as what he did! Don't trust her, don't trust her.' My thoughts were in constant turmoil over her; should I trust her, or leave it be? All of my questions had no answers, which was normal for this team. I often didn't understand some things, but I never asked questions about it; I guess I just guessed that what we were doing was right.

I glanced back at Ian and Spencer, they had ceased fighting when she had ceased being in our sights. Tala had sat down at the table, glaring over at us. I sighed reluctantly, and sat down across from him. "Kuznetsov san, we need to make something clear here," Tala said to me in a rather sharp tone. I simply eyed him wearily; I hate it when he uses my last name! "We are not using her, alright? And, you are to not stare blankly at her like what you were doing during practise, got it?!" I nodded slightly; how had he noticed my staring, but she didn't? Tala nodded, and got up quickly from the table. He wandered over to his bed, and crashed onto it.

"Bryan, why were you staring at her," a very booming voice said that happened to belong to Spencer. I shrugged listlessly; like I'd tell him anything! Spencer sat across from me where Tal sat before. He continued to watch me with his stormy grey eyes. I sighed and leaned back in my chair with my cobalt blue eyes closed; it was going to be a long wait...

In a few more minutes, I had gotten up and wandered over to where my bed was. Since this was going to be a very prolonged wait; I might as well be doing something to ease my mind from the time. Once at my bed, I laid down on it, and reached underneath my bed. I rummaged around for a while, and finally pulled up my IPod. (Disclaimer: I do not own the IPod Company or whatever.) I turned it on and then switched the song to: Still Loving You by Scorpions. (Disclaimer: I do not own the song or whatever.) For some reason, this song seemed to help me calm down somewhat. It helped my facade some way or another, which didn't leave me complaining. I put in my headphones, and leaned back on my bed with my teal eyes closed, intently listening to the song of choice.

End of Bryan's POV

15 minutes later

I had taken my shower; man do I hate water. I began wiping the condensation off of the glass mirror. My hair was a mess, and I looked even more pale then usual. My sigh that escaped my lips was a little example of my now gone stress. My polar eyes glanced down at the drawers in the counter that I was leaning on. I calmly pulled out, only to find my teams' stuff. My eyes almost immediately widened when I started looking through their stuff. They had cologne, small combs, and other random stuff. I managed a small giggle as I continued to pull out all of its contents. 'I never thought of them to have this kind of stuff. Do they even wear half of it?' I thought as more random objects began pilling up on the counter top.

Now my small giggles were beginning to get more common. They had so many different deodorants in here! I only had one...After completely emptying their drawer, I put everything back in almost the same messy order as I had taken it out. I sighed deeply again after my moment of fun was suddenly stolen from me. When I had finished putting everything back, I began searching for my own comb/brush. Upon finding it, I forcefully began combing through my thick, medium brown hair. In 5 minutes, I was done, and had already pulled out the hair stringed into the comb.

I already changed into another black pair of jeans, and now had a black tank top on with the kanji for dragon on the back in white. I had already pulled on all of my chains/spikers/etc. I was putting all the towels and stuff away, when I realized that there was no sound coming from the opposite room. 'Did they fight or something? It should never be this quiet.' I thought questionably and I slowly picked up the rest of my clothes, and unlocked the bathroom door.

I reticently stepped out into the other room and poked my head out from behind the door. Bryan looked like he was sleeping, Tala looked the same way, and Spencer and Ian were staring at something on the table. I shrugged slightly, and calmly exited the bathroom, and made my way casually to my part of the room. I dumped my clothes onto the floor of my room, and sat down on my bed. I then sighed and fell back onto my bed. I lay there staring up at the ceiling absentmindedly. In a few minutes, stirring could be heard from the other side of the curtain, and I tiredly got into a sitting position and started pulled my hair back into a pony tail. It was harder now because my hair was wet, but either way, I got it done. My bangs seemed shorter now then before; stupid water.

A soft knock came from the other side of my curtain. I jumped at the chance to talk again, "yeah?" Tala's red-head poked through the curtain, emotionless as usual.

"May I come in?" His voice was so crisp and clear, like something one could only imagine hearing. It didn't have a heavy accent, which surprised me. I mean, if you had always lived in Russia, then wouldn't you have an accent? I just nodded to his question, and he coolly came in. His footsteps were light, so he wasn't angry or tense or anything. He finally came close to my bed, and remained standing up and looming over me; men really enjoy doing that don't they? "We might be the only two going for dinner...is that alright with you...or do you feel uneasy with that?" A smile spread across my lips; eating with my team individually was certainly an awesome experience to have.

"No, of course I don't mind...so when and where are we going?" I questioned him. My eyes had switched to an electric blue with distinct platinum streaks embedded into them. He noticed the fact that my eyes changed and he seemed to relax a bit. I'm not even sure why he appeared to rest somewhat. I calmly got up from my own bed, and now stood in front of him contently. Well, I was content until I noticed how tall he was compared to me. I really was a shrimp!

"I don't know where we're going, or when...I guess whenever we want to..." he seemed almost far off as if he replied to me. I gazed up at him, and suddenly wondered what it would be like to constantly be looking down on someone. I nodded, and my eyes wandered down to the ground. He sighed after a few moments; why did it suddenly feel awkward? "We might not be alone though...I guess we can go and ask them..." I glanced up at him, he guessed? Did he not usually ask his team that?

"Um, okay, shall we go ask them then?" He nodded, and stepped back away from me. He then stepped out into the opposite room, and I quickly followed him. Bryan was still on his bed 'sleeping'. Ian and Spencer were looking over at us, and then they turned back to each other to resume their conversation.

Tala marched over to Bryan, and rudely shook his shoulder. Bryan bolted upright, and glared daggers at Tala, but when he rested his eyes on me, he seemed to soften somewhat. "Hey, are you coming with us to eat?" Tala told him gruffly. Bryan closed his teal eyes, and slowly reached up to his ears and pulled his head phones down around his neck. His cobalt blue eyes slowly opened and stared across at me, and then glanced back at Tala with a little bit of hardness.

"Sure, I'll come." I smiled slightly, and quietly moved over towards Spencer and Ian to 'loom' over them as much as possible before they got up again. Unbeknownst to me, Bryan had forcibly grabbed Tala's shoulder, and brought his head closer. He then whispered in his ear, "There's no way...I'd ever leave you two alone." Bryan then let go of Tala, and pushed him away from his bed. Bryan quickly then got up, and replaced his IPod on his bed, and strolled over to Spencer, Ian, and I.

In a short while, Tala joined us, and we all talked about where we were going to go. "We should go to a restaurant; I really don't want fast food." Ian said. Spencer nodded, and I joined in the nodding.

"Any suggestions then, Ian, Spencer," he waited for a moment and then said, "Bryan?"

They all shrugged in response to the question. Ian and Spencer then returned to their earlier conversation about absolutely nothing! I watched Tala as he glared over towards Bryan; what exactly did I miss? "Well, do you guys remember that superlative restaurant place that we found our first day here? The one we gawked at for a little while with not many people in it?" Tala nodded, and Ian just stared up at me. Spencer was saying something lowly to Bryan, which ended with him smirking.

"I hadn't thought of that one, I guess we could go there..." Spencer said breaking the very nerving silence. Tala nodded, and then he proceeded to go towards the door and open it for us all. I gallantly strode forward since no one else dared to go first. Ian trailed closely behind me, and Spencer and Bryan came last. In a very short while, we were down at the lobby, and walking out the door.

The streets of Tokyo, Japan weren't very busy considering the time; must have been because of the earlier storm. The storm had ceased now, but the sky was still grey and black. The moon wasn't visible, and neither was the sun. No stars littered the sky this time. Tala was in the front, I was beside him but slightly behind him, Ian was beside me, and Bryan and Spencer were in the back, much like usual. Eventually, we found the shop, and shoved the front door open.

Inside of it was just as unparalleled as the outside appeared. It was spacious and large; there weren't many people here, which didn't surprise me because there was barely anyone outside. It had beige walls with brown wallpaper. The lighting was perfect, and there were many different sized tables dotted all over the place. Some were large and rectangular, and others were small or medium and circular. All the tables were chestnut coloured and smooth. The carpet was roan and walnut.

We waited by a fake pea green fern. After a few minutes of waiting patiently, a waitress came over to us in a rose, Chinese styled shirt. "Have you already been helped?" Tala fixed them with his subzero gaze which made her feel awkward.

"Um, no we haven't been helped yet," I replied in one of my most sincere voices. She smiled at us, more at me, and led us away to one of the rectangular tables. Before she led us though, she made sure that we were the only ones eating that night. "Thank you," I said sweetly, she then smiled at me and left us with five menus. The menus were burgundy with black binding on it.

It was slightly awkward now; I don't even know why it was awkward! In a few moments, Bryan coughed, and Ian snickered quietly. With a single glare from Tala, Ian's snicker died away rather quickly. "So, how was everyone's day...?" I asked uncertainly. Tala sighed, and Bryan shifted uneasily. "Um, never mind..." My confidence was rapidly depleting as the minutes dragged on. 'What happened to make it so...to make them so...so...cold suddenly, was it my fault that they were like this?' I thought sourly.

The waitress came back promptly with a note pad and pen. "May I take your orders now, or do you still need more time?" She asked us, well, more like asking me as it looked as if she was frightened of the rest of my team. Tala shook his head, and abruptly told her his order, as did the rest of my team including me. Then she left us, and we were alone in the silence once more. However, the silence was only there transiently before I attempted to break it once again.

"So, what exactly happened to make the air around us suddenly become awkward?" Tala was playing with his ice water, and everyone else turned from watching him uneasily to glancing over at me. Ian had to use a booster seat so he rested his chin on the table restlessly. Spencer propped his chin up with his elbow. Bryan was gazing out beyond Tala's head uninterestingly.

"I'm sorry, Kiko chan, I guess we're just not in the mood to talk...it has nothing to do with you...you did nothing wrong!" Spencer broke out even though Tala had glanced up at him when he said it. He then sighed deeply, and the taciturnity continued.

In around twenty minutes of reticence, the waitress came back with another rose clad girl behind her. They both carried large trays with them that carried all of our food. We all ate quietly when they placed our plates in front of us. The only sound in the area was the clinking of forks and other utensils against our oyster coloured plates. In another twenty minutes, we had all finished, and yet the soundlessness continued. In another five minutes, Tala got up, and signalled the rest of us to follow him. We did as we were told, and followed our team captain as he paid the bill. Very quickly after that, we were on our way back to the hotel; maybe we could talk then...or maybe not...

Back at the hotel

We still hadn't talked since Spencer reassured me that it wasn't my fault. I wasn't sure if he meant it now, it just seems that every time I tried to talk to them, they shushed me. Once we were inside of the room, Bryan turned on the lights, and we entered the room without any bloodshed. I hastily walked past them and flopped onto my bed. I buried my face in my pillow, and laid there for a little while.

It was soundless in the room, much like the restaurant was. Not even the slight sounds of outside were heard; it was like a giant snow storm had shaken the area and caused everything to be frozen. Tala seemed distant and cold...yeah the guy I didn't want to be cold and such, 'what, why did I just think that? Is something wrong with me? He's my team captain; he can never be anything more to me, can he? Well, I'm not even sure that he would return my feelings if I ever let them show...maybe that was what had been hitting me tonight...maybe not that he was cold...was that he was cold to me, so I couldn't even talk to him, which I love doing!'

I was lost in thought as the silence drained on. Soon, it felt as if I was the only one 'talking', even though the only sound I heard was my own thinking. Maybe it really wasn't my fault that he...or they were not interactive towards anything tonight. Yeah, it saddened me, but it also brought up the fact that they could be dealing with things that I have no control over and no knowledge about. Would they ever tell me their secrets? Was I even worth telling them to, I mean, I might lash out or something...but I'd probably more then likely try to comfort them, which could be just as bad for them. Since they were raised in the Abbey, I guess they were trained to have no emotions and to just 'deal' with all of the world's problems. That way of thinking was bound to make them have an early death.

And once again, I felt my mind slowly turn into turmoil. I was lost on how to act around them now...to act around them tomorrow. We'd probably be training, but how could I do that to the best of my ability when all I could think of was them...my team...my team captain. No; I must not think things like that!

I sighed deeply, and slowly lifted my head from my intoxicating pillow now trying to suffocate me. Suddenly, my nose started to twitch, and a feeling of wanting to get rid of something overcame me. And, with a new feeling of awkwardness, I sneezed, "ahh choo!" My head hit my pillow powerfully, and I sniffed tiredly. I then sneezed again, and it ended up having my head in my pillow again. I closed my wintry eyes, and rolled over onto my back and groaned; I had a cold how joyous.

In a fleeting moment of loneliness, a knock was heard; almost the only sound heard in this room. I slowly mumbled 'yes' and the red-headed Russian joined me by my bed side. "Kiko chan...Are you okay? We heard you sneezing and...Well...we got worried..." I immediately opened my eyes, and bolted into a sitting position. They were worried about me; worried over ME? Somehow, this didn't seem to match their supposed character profiles. They were made to be cold and the type to not worry about anyone or anything.

"Um, Tala kun...I'm not really sure what to-"I was interrupted by another chaotic sneeze, which sent my head flying backwards from the impact. I almost immediately afterwards cupped my nose from fear of having ANYTHING hanging out of my nose. Much to my surprise, there was nothing hanging out of my nose. My face was still flushed from the embarrassment of having Tala kun just see me sneeze. I calmly closed my glacial eyes, and remained lying down on my bed. I soon groaned, and a small cough escaped my mouth.

"Kiko chan, I think you should rest or something...do you need anything? I can stay with you if you want," his voice was enriched with worry and slight confusion. I opened my arctic eyes and fixed them on him, he seemed genuinely worried about me, why?

"Um, it's just a cold, nothing too serious...but I should probably rest...but I really don't want to! I don't need anything really and you don't have to stay with me-"I barely got the words out of my mouth before he flashed me a slightly indignant look. I was confused by that, and cocked my head slightly up at him. His stern face then relaxed and the corners of his mouth turned up into a small smile. "It's just that...I don't want you to feel like you have to be with me when you don't want to," he shook his head and he got up from my bed. "Do you need any help?" I said as I tried to get up from my bed. Tala turned around and gently shoved me back onto my back.

"No, Kiko chan, I don't need any help, and I'll be right back, you just stay where you are, alright?" I sighed reluctantly, and nodded to him. He nodded to me, and then he left my room. I closed my eyes and waited for him to return. In the other room I heard low mumblings coming from the rest of the team, and then the heavy footsteps of someone going into the bathroom reached my ears.

Was he really worried about me? I don't want to skip out on training tomorrow, I barely did anything today! But, I guess it couldn't be that bad, I mean, if Tala let me stay here then he must not think that I'm too weak. I can't believe he...they are worried over me, I mean, it is only a cold! But, I heard that people can die from colds, I certainly do not want to die; I guess I have no choice then; I have to stay in bed.

Tala quickly came back to me with a glass of water; by now my eyes were open, and he had something else in his other hand. He came over to me, and gave me the cup and a few pills. "They're cold pills, so they'll make you drowsy, but they'll help you get better, okay?" I nodded, and sat back up; it's not good to drink when lying down. I then placed the white capsules into my mouth, and quickly drank some of the clear sustenance which allowed me to swallow the cold pills.

In a few more moments, I had felt drowsy, and was soon struggling to keep my eyes open. "You can go to sleep...we'll stay quiet for you." I nodded slowly, and then drifted off to sleep. Tala stayed by my side, and then got up with a sigh. He then turned back to me, and gently lifted me up into his muscular arms. With his other arm, he pulled back the covers and put me back onto my bed ad then pulled the covers over my small frame. I moved over onto my side, and remained sleeping. His polar eyes were still watching me, and he gently placed the back of his hand on my forehead. He smiled, and then left me, but not before saying, "I'm sorry for tonight, Kiko chan."

AN: Wahahahahaha! I love this ending; does everyone else share in my enthusiasm for it? Wow, um, the beginning is just slightly weird, well I think it is! So, review me please, review me! You know how long it takes to write a chapter and how short it takes to read it? It kind of confuses me! I had so many writing blocks from this chapter, I don't really know why; all I know is that, it happened. So, review me please! If I don't get at least three reviews, I'm not posting until I get them! Well, maybe four reviews, depends what I feel, so three or four! Because I worked really hard on this chapter, due to the writing blocks, I hope you like it! Bye!


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter twenty nine: Mistakes

AN: I was told to put in a little bit of what happened last, so...Here would be what happened last.

LAST TIME

His polar eyes were still watching me, and he gently placed the back of his hand on my forehead. He smiled, and then left me, but not before saying, "I'm sorry for tonight, Kiko chan."

START

Morning

I slowly opened my crystal-like eyes, and scanned the room from where I laid. Wait, I felt warmth, this shouldn't be when I was on top of the bed because then the air could get to me. Then, I felt a slight twitch, and I sneezed, yet again, "ahh choo!" My head slammed back into the head board, which caused me to moan with the pain following it. I absolutely hate getting sick, I don't get sick often, so when I do it's either really bad, or very minimal; never in between.

A small knock sounded at my 'door', and with a simple "mhm", Tala stepped inside. He stepped over to me quickly, and gently set his warm hand against my now clammy forehead. A serious expression over came his normally calm face; was he worried or something?

"Kiko chan, your heating up...do you feel okay?" I shook my head and sniffed a little; I completely...well almost completely didn't feel well. I mean, other than my fever; which I thought was why he asked me, I felt almost 78. But, I hardly doubt that Tala would let me train today even if I did feel 100. I now knew that someone had put me under the mahogany covers; but whom?

"I think it would be...best if you didn't train today...it could help your health if you stayed in bed today...or at least around here..." I know that he was trying his best to make everything sound decent, but I knew that he was slightly disappointed that I couldn't join them. I myself was disappointed that I wasn't allowed to come because that would mean that I had to stay in here alone...when I didn't really want to be alone. I was deserted before when things like this happened; I really didn't want to be solitary right now just because of a stupid cold!

"Tala kun, I know that you don't honestly want me to be in here and not training...but there must be SOMETHING I can do to get ready for the tournament? Anything at all, please Tala kun! I don't want to be alone in this room just because of an appalling cold!" Tala stared at me with his glacial gaze, and sighed in a defeated sort of way. His ice cold eyes closed, and then reopened to gaze back at me; this time his eyes were a deeper color of blue...they were less cold and threatening like before.

He slowly came closer to me, and sat on the edge of my bed. He kept his gaze locked onto the floor, and we remained there for what seemed to me like forever before he did speak. "Kiko chan, I never said that you'd be alone...there's better chance of Tyson san losing then for us to leave you...we know what it's like all too well. We want to show you that we care about you...and wouldn't make you stay in here by yourself," I looked up at him, and for a brief moment, our eyes met simultaneously. Then, he looked away and continued, "but, that doesn't mean that we're not going to be doing something and always in here...you do need your rest...but I guess if you really feel up to it after you have slept...you can come down with us if we go..." his voice trailed off from there. After a few more moments of silence, I got back up into a sitting position, and leaned forward. Without his knowledge; till it was too late, I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder blade.

"Thank you, Tala kun...you really are an incredibly kind friend," I slowly pulled away from him and remained in an upright position whilst smiling up at him (he's still taller then me even when he's sitting!). He gave me a highly surprised glance, and in a short while, a small smile formed on his pale lips. He slowly got up, and he pushed me back down gently with his strong hand.

"Thank you, Kiko chan, you too are a very kind friend," those were his parting words as he left me too drift off again. I'm glad that I'm his friend. I'm glad that I can make him smile. A long time ago that would never happen; when we first met...I know the only reason why he talked to me was because he needed another member and he knew that I was strong, but now he may have another reason to keep me here.

Blitzkriegboys' POV's

Bryan, Ian, and Spencer all looked up when their leader came back. The red-headed Russian gazed across at the rest of his team members. 'Outlandishly rash, vicious, vile, short tempered, close-fisted, cold, heartless, monsters, beasts, unruly, rude, polite, smart, vain, trigger happy, merciless, indifferent, distrusting...what was this girl doing on our team? This nice, kind hearted, polite...everything that we aren't! What did I do to her life when I asked her to come on our team?' he thought sullenly. His Frostic gaze landed on the dove grey 19 year old sitting in front of him. The glacial eyed boy's gaze hardened somewhat over reflecting what he told him the night before, 'there's no way...I'd ever leave you two alone,' were his raspy words. What exactly did he mean when he said those?

The light browned 19 year old was gently poking his gun that lay beside him. 'I hope that she's okay...Tala sure looks angry...maybe Bryan did something to him again...I think I'll talk to him later on,' Spencer thought. His eyes wandered around and finally came to a stop at Ian; the big nosed dolt was just playing with his gun! He didn't even bother to look up at Tala! 'Oh, Bryan's going to kick his butt if he's alone with him...that or he'll lay off on him till she's better...which might just be the case.'

(Mwahaha; I'm going to do them all, wretched humans! laughs hysterically just bear with me, k? THANK YOU!)

His amethyst hair was starting to get on his nerves; 'I think one day I might cut it...' With a single glance towards Tala, he immediately dropped his gaze, 'what's got him so ticked so suddenly? His mood is worse then a horse's. They'll be all gentle one moment, and then bang; they're bucking you off of their crummy backs! I hate those wretched creatures, I don't care if they helped us win wars; I hate them! How could Russia even CONSIDER using those vile things?' And off he went thinking all sorts of cruel and unusual things about...horses.

The dove grey nineteen year-old was keeping his teal gaze on his team captain. His back wasn't straight and the expression he wore was non-too-happy. "Tala san, what exactly is going on with her...is she going to be alright? Can we do anything to cheer her up or something...because she is part of our team and we all need to be strong, and if your emotional state has got anything to do with it then we-" Tala's stormy glare cut him off; when he was angry, it really showed.

"Bryan...she's fine...and if you like her then it's fine as well, you don't have to make excuses for it! All we can do is not leave her, and remain in here for training. We also have to be quiet, and listen to her when she is speaking, got it, Kuznetsov?" He said all of this in a rather rash tone, insinuating that this was to be taken seriously; much like everything else in here was taken. Barely anyone on this team had...spirit; so to speak, we're all really cold and withdrawn from everything around us. But, that would be how we were raised, in the Abbey we were trained to block out many of our emotions, and because of our current age...it makes it harder to relate to others' without the same problem. At least we know what's going on with each other, even if it is vaguely. We all know what each other has been through, even if the knowledge we have is imprecise.

The little noise that we had was soon gone, as if it were just a hallucination. Everything seemed like that, with us, our smiles were short-lived, our happiness was ephemeral and futile, but, our remorse was endless, our violence was continuous, and our anti-social-ness was everlasting. We didn't always feel these feelings though, it's just, those are really the only one's we were allowed to express.

Tala was leaning against the kitchen table, with his aqua eyes closed. Ian was STILL playing with his sniper rifle, Spencer had stopped jabbing his own gun and was now staring blankly at Ian, with a slightly disgusted look, and Bryan was glaring at Tala. 'Everything seems unreal and empty; were we really always like this? Can anyone show us how to behave properly, or will we just die trying to get out of this mess? No one seems to know these answers, and I'm sure that no one wants to know; but either way...we had to stop being this way around her...or she'll always get sick,' were the thoughts that lingered between each of the team members; surprisingly, they all seemed to mirror the exact same thing, the want to not be cold and ruthless, the need to show everyone who they really were...maybe someone in particular, and the yearn for making her feel better. However, not one person said anything to it, and the silence raged on.

End of Neoborg's POV

A few hours later

My eyes started to wince, and in a few fleeting moment, I began to scan the room (insinuating that my eyes are open now!). Everything was what it should have been, quiet and stable. 'Tala kun said that he wasn't going to leave me...I have to believe that he kept his promise.' I coughed quietly, and slowly threw off the covers that hid my small frame. I yawned, and put my legs over the side of my bed, and rose into a sitting position. I yawned once more, and covered my mouth politely as I stood up and stretched tiredly; sleeping was a good idea after all.

I softly wandered over towards the curtain, and stopped just before opening it. I was still wearing the same thing that I wore to dinner last night, how gross. I quickly walked back over to where my suit case was, and began searching through it to find something new to put on. Once I had thrown everything out and color coded everything, I finally got out of my black jeans and put on my black, loose pants. There weren't any chains on them; they were just black; much like guy's pants. I also threw on a burgundy tight fitting shirt that had black, thick wording on the back that said: Carnage, in Russian.

I sighed, just slightly content with myself, and put everything back in its place; in my suit case, and then I stood up, and strode over to where the curtain was. I gently pulled it back, and walked into the opposite side of the room. My team was all sitting on the black leather couch, watching the beyblade stats go by; did they watch any other channels?! I was so quiet that no one noticed me until I broke the now eerie silence, "what exactly are you doing?"

Ian jumped so much I thought he was going to pee himself! A wide sadistic grin appeared on my face as I watched him startle. Bryan's shoulders twitched slightly as I spoke, but other than that, his only reaction was his head turning to face me. Spencer nodded in my direction, and smiled innocently at me, and Tala had the same reaction as Bryan. "We're watching...something...Kiko chan what are you doing up?" Tala's voice was so wonderful to hear, even if I had a cold.

"I woke up...and felt bored...aren't you bored?!" I replied in a slightly disgusted tone. Ian was still breathing kind of hard, so I just had to snicker. Bryan glanced over at him now, and joined me in my joy. Tala 'hn'ed, and smirked slightly while trying to remain calm, and Spencer had a big childish grin on his pale Russian face. Ian's face turned a faint crimson, which just added to my amusement. 'Ian baka, I cannot believe that saying something like that would make him that surprised! What a weird little guy...then again it would probably make me jump just as much...I mean...I get scared too easily!'

"We...okay in all honesty we are bored, but we didn't want to leave you alone in this...place. Are you sure your okay to be up though?" Spencer said sullenly. I nodded, and everyone moved over for me to sit, which I did. I sat at the end beside Tala kun, and Ian kun sat on Spencer kun's lap! I chuckled softly, and then tore my gaze away from them to stare mindlessly at the TV screen.

The stats hadn't changed from the other night when we had watched it before. They just seemed to scroll by endlessly, much like how when you are on a boat or whatever, and you look out, and all you see is water, endless masses of luscious water; this would have been the same thing, and it was starting to get me slightly angry. As my polar eyes watched it tirelessly, my small hands began to play with a thin blue string.

Unbeknownst to me, a pair of quiet violet cat eyes stared at all of us from the air vent above the TV. Their black feline tail swished around its small body cramped up in the vent. Her tiny black paws gently placed themselves against the grating of it, and a small purr escaped her mouth. Now, the TV was too loud, so I didn't hear her soft 'meow', however, Tala kun did and his steely eyes immediately moved up towards the vent and remained there for a little while. Soon, Tala kun's hand reached over to the table, and he muted it just in time for me to hear the soft pawing at the vent. I cocked my head in confusion, and focussed my vision towards the vent; what exactly was up there and why was it watching us?! I quickly shifted nervously and my earlier fidgeting with the string became more noticeable.

The soft purring sounds had finally reached our ears, well my ears, and I instantly thought of a cat. Wait, why would a cat go up there in the first place, unless it was put up there, or it wasn't exactly all human..."Kiyoko chan, what are you doing up there?!" I jumped up from the couch and strode over to the vent. I quietly reached up to it, only to find that it was too high up, and even with tip-toes, I still could not reach it! I was such a shrimp!

Quickly, the sounds of ruffling came to me, and soon Tala's strong arms reached around me, and to the top of the vent. I watched silently as he calmly reached up and attempted to undo the vents bolts. With no luck, Ian began to giggle, or chuckle. I guess seeing Tala looming over me like that, almost leaning against my back, was a funny image to see...not that I'd ever know if I was always the one he loomed over like that. I quietly watched, and Tala grunted softly to himself. In a few more minutes, Bryan came over and tried, oddly enough he did the same thing that Tala did to me; looming must be fun for them all.

With no prevail; Spencer tried, also ending in defeat. Kiyoko's tail swished around herself calmly as she watched us intently. "Um, I might be able to get it...if I could get up to it that is," I said not insinuatingly. My team all glanced at each other, and I stared up at the vent thinking of how to get up there. I thought that I could because I was the only one with nails to do it with; guys don't have long enough nails to do undo the bolts.

Silently, Spencer came towards me, and gently lifted me up till I was eye level with the vent! Well, by now of course, I was beat red; why was he picking me up? I didn't insinuate anything of the sort, so why?! "Are you going to undo the bolts or do we have to keep you up there for a longer period of time?" Tala's crisp voice broke through my thoughts as I ranted over how odd it felt to be in the air being supported by only Spencer kun! Either way, I nodded, and slowly brought my hands up to the bolts, and began to unscrew them all. Because I had no way to put them down (the bolts I mean), I simply threw them at Ian; he deserved it for being so small and laughing quietly at me! In no time, I had the vent open, and I calmly drew out Kiyoko chan from the air vent.

Spencer kun had brought me down to my normal height, and Kiyoko chan was lying against my shoulder blade. I casually placed her on the floor, and watched as she quickly switched back to her regular form. Her amethyst coloured hair was pulled back in a high pony tail, but even then it was still at her waist. As she stood in front of me in her black sweater and blue jeans, I thought about why she was here. She was blushing faintly, and her eyes darted onto the floor as we both stood there awkwardly, well mostly awkwardly for her.

"Kat chan forced me up there and such to spy on you guys because she thought that Tala san had injured you, Kiko chan," I cocked my head, and with a glance towards Tala kun, I saw that he appeared hurt by her comment. My gaze then shifted back to Kiyoko chan, I nodded, and gently led her away from my team, and outside of our room. Our footsteps were light on the carpet, and I quickly yelled over my shoulder,

"We'll just be in the hallway," and then we disappeared out of the door. Once the door was closed, I spun around on my heel, and gave her a very challenging look. With my arms crossed and my steely gaze on her I spat out, "what do you think you're doing saying things like that?! Tala kun would never hurt me; you should get some kind of back bone and think before you speak!" I yelled at her. My icicle-like eyes were stormy with ire; it was like an ice storm. Why had she said that when he was there? Why couldn't she have told me when we were without his presence? I know from experience that it hurts to be told that you could possibly hurt your friend...and have another friend say that your supposed 'harmful friend' is bad for you.

I sighed deeply, and closed my arctic eyes; it wasn't totally her fault. It was partially mine for not letting them know that I was sick. But, I thought that only Kat had issues with him, but maybe everyone does! Why did they hate him so much? What unearthly reason did they have to loathe him? I mean...he wasn't that violent, was he? I know that sometimes he got pretty violent with the team, but I don't think he'd hit a girl, especially one of whom he called his friend. I nodded slightly, and came to the conclusion that he's too much of a gentleman to ever hurt a girl. Well, at least physically, I mean, if a girl did like him and he turned her down, it wasn't considered his fault right?

As I pondered on this for a while, and cam to the conclusion that it definitely wasn't his fault; it was the girls for liking him in the first place! But, why am I thinking about this, I'm supposed to be yelling at one of my best friends; not that staring mindlessly at her with an indignant look was making her feel up beat. Not that I blame her in the least, I wouldn't feel too proud to have anyone stare at me in such a way.

I sighed, and brought my hand up to run my fingers through my bangs. This was definitely going to be a long day. Kiyoko stood there, and her eyes had gotten wide, but she also seemed sad...I wonder why. "You know what...it wasn't your guys' faults, it was mine for not telling you guys that I was sick, just a minor cold. But, I think you should watch what you say around Tala kun, like all humans he does have feelings, and I think you might have...angered him when you said that. I may not know that much about him, but it would kind of be the same thing as...if someone told you that I was harmful to you, and then they started stalking you to make sure you were alright...it would be the same thing." She nodded to me, and I smiled down at her; for some reason I haven't sneezed in a while. "So, how are you then?"

"Me, oh, I'm fine actually and...There's something you need to know about your team mates..." I cocked an eyebrow, and gently took her arm and led her away from the door. Once we were far enough away, I leaned against a wall with my arms crossed, and waited for her to continue, "Well...you see, your team has tried to rule the world before, by taking bit beasts. Tala san...was genetically altered to be the best beyblader in the world, and so he has...odd emotional break downs. When he's battling and he's really into it or something, he just loses control and attempts to freeze everyone and everything in his path that includes you. He has mixed up brain waves as well, so he's a little insane almost. I'm not trying to make you angry or anything by telling you this, I just thought you should know what you're getting into exactly...I just don't want them to hurt you..." her voice trailed off from there, and suddenly there was silence between us. They tried to take over the world? Wow, they must be really strong! But, they're fine now, right? And, maybe Tala kun didn't want me to find out about his genetics, so that I wouldn't worry, but now I know...and now I'm going to worry. "They used to work under Boris," I nodded to her, and she continued, "Bryan san had almost killed Ray Kon san from the White Tiger X team, he was in the hospital for a while, and Tala san had almost killed many. Kiko chan, I don't want you to get harmed, so please watch your back..."

At the last remark, my gaze shot up from the ground, and fixed itself on her. How dare she tell me what to do, it's my life, and I decide who gets to be in it or not. I know that they won't hurt me...I don't know how...I just know that they won't. I guess I trust them or something, I'll never know why I trust some and not others; natural I guess.

An exasperated sigh escaped my lips; they honestly didn't have to worry about me like that. "Kiyoko chan, you don't have to worry about me, you know I always keep alert around anybody. But, I don't think that they'll hurt me, I don't know why...I just know. They seem to want to get to know me, not pound me into gravel," I retorted calmly. I smiled softly, and got up from the wall. She stepped back from me, and I nodded to her, signalling that I wasn't too irritated at her. She smiled, and we continued on our way to find Kat chan.

Spencer's POV

"Kat chan forced me up there and such to spy on you guys because she thought that Tala san had injured you, Kiko chan," why did she say that? She could have just left the room with her and then say that! Man, Tala san must be really ticked, that or sad. I mean, they probably know that he's not human, and that he tried to take over the world and crap...but we all did that, why did she have to pick hi out over all of us? I think I'd much rather have it be me, or...well me. Bryan kun would have killed her if that happened to him, and Ian would probably aim his gun at her.

I feel kind of bad for Kiko chan too, she's the one stuck in the middle of it all. She's stuck between her best friends, and us, I wonder who she'll choose to side with. Her best friends, all we seem to do is go cold on her and make her worry, no wonder they think us bad for her! But, if it weren't for that team, the Nefarious Blade's, then maybe we wouldn't be so...distant right now. I know that Tala san has talked to us a little bit about what we're to do about them...but she doesn't know.

FLASHBACK

"We're going to keep this from Kiko chan as long as possible; it would only be another thing to worry about with her. So, we're going to be training relentlessly, and making sure that they don't go near her at all costs...even if that means our battling them, got it?" Tala's voice was stricken with seriousness; he really meant what he was saying.

"But, Valkov sir, how do we keep it from her?" Ian piped up. Tala's cold eyes went to him, and Ian shrank back somewhat.

"Ian chibi san has a point," Bryan's crisp voice broke in to defend the little midget. At being called a 'chibi', Ian growled and shoved Bryan into the counter; for someone so short, he sure was strong. Bryan was too preoccupied with what he was trying to say, so he didn't beat Ian to a pulp, "I mean, if she asks about it or something, what do we tell her? 'Oh it's nothing, it's only the newest team that Boris san is working on', Tala san, that's not good enough!" Bryan's fist collided with the table, and Tala's arctic gaze was soon concentrated on Bryan's stern features. It was silent for a while, and then I broke into the conversation being the voice of reason; I had to take the role after Kai san left us to be with the G Revolutions,

"Maybe we should say nothing of it to her, and if she asks, we'll just say that we'll tell her later, is that alright, Tala san?" He nodded, and the awkwardness was slowly melting away.

END FLASHBACK

Yeah, that was how it went, and she hasn't asked about it yet; a very good sign that might indicate that she forgot. I guess maybe all we need is a break from all of this stress that's consuming us, lest we lose her for good, to the G Revolutions. I know that having her on the team has been making everyone a lot calmer, but having Kai san on one of our opponents teams has been bothering all of us. He has information on us all that could bring us down by a lot; we could lose this tournament like we did last time, which would get everyone angst-ridden. I shook my head in disbelief, and sat down at the table with a very quiet Ian. This fact surprised me; he was almost never quiet. Something must be bothering him, well, if he was bothered, I'll let him tell me at his own pace, and if he doesn't, then he doesn't. His problems were really none of my concern, and no one else seemed to be worried about it. So, then why whenever Kiko chan is bothered, we all know, and we try to help her when it isn't any of our business? Ian exhaled and he put his sniper rifle down, the first sign that we should be worried; Ian never puts his gun down! He had his head in his hands, and a very forlorn look came onto his face, second sign; Ian is almost always grinning at something.

The silence raged on, as I eventually put my head in my own large, raven black, gloved hands. Ian glanced up at me with his auburn eyes; they were usually so happy, but now they were filled with...sadness and possibly worry. "Spencer san...I...are we bad for her?" His voice was heart wrenching, but all I could do was give him my unwavering look of understanding. He looked down, and after a while of continuing silence, he looked back up at me; apparently he wanted an answer to his oh-so-obvious question.

"Ian," I sighed gently, "it's not if we're good or bad for her...it's what we do to her physically and mentally," I looked at him to see if he was sated, but his look seemed even more dejected then before. "Ian san, I really don't know what to say...I don't think we're all bad for her, but I don't think we're entirely good for her either." Ian's look didn't change, the honest truth of the matter was, I really didn't know what to do. I wanted to believe that we were good for her, but the nagging thoughts at the back of my head said that we weren't. I mean, just look at us, how could any of us even dream to not be harmful to the one's we care for. Wait, did I just say that I cared for her? I guess I do then...but it doesn't mean I love her, just...worry about her.

"Listen, Spencer kun, I honestly don't want to think of how much harm we can cause, but maybe she won't care about that...she still doesn't know what we've done in the past, and all we can do is make sure that she never finds out! Valkov sir is really beating himself up over this, so we have to watch over him as well. If we're bad for her, then so be it, but if they're wrong, then we might just make her happy." Bryan's voice rang out above my head in his regular, Russian tinted accent.

Ian nodded, and slid down from his chair. His sombre footsteps reached his bed, in which he fell upon. He left his gun at the table propped up against the leg of the table. Bryan took his place, and soon, everything in the room was dead silent. I glanced back to look at Ian, he looked so crest-fallen. My scrutinizing gaze soon rested itself on Tala; he was laying on his bed, with his back to us. I shrugged slightly, and resumed my staring at the table.

Tala's POV

I'm a horrible human being...but I'm not human. I'm a freak of nature, Kai had always told me that in a joking sort of way, but within every joke there was always some truth; right? I am a freak of nature. I'm not human; I'm not even close to being what some may call human. I almost destroyed the world, myself, many other people too. Many hate me for what I've done, not that I blame them. I hate myself, I still can't believe that we were so fortunate that she doesn't know about us, but with the way today is going, she will at the end of it. All chances of us...being us are lost...wait, what am I thinking?! I'm not supposed to feel, I can't feel for her! It's not my right to, I'm not worth her love, and it would just be a wasted thing.

I sighed, and closed my glacial eyes; what did it matter anymore? Everything I say is wrong, and everything I do is wrong. Life, that would be what it was called, but sometimes the pain just seemed too much, like it was just a dream. I'm a joke, nothing more and nothing less. Some say that when a person asks for forgiveness for their mistakes, that they forgive them and forget about the mistake. Well, some mistakes can't be forgiven or forgotten; I'm just one of the many.

Kiko's POV

We had long since found her, but upon my seeing her, something deep inside of me snapped! I felt so angry at them all, and the reason why has not yet been found. We had caught her talking with Marissa; and that fact had outraged me even more. When we came nearer, I felt my whole body began to tremble, and soon the words of hate spilled out. By the end of it, Kiyoko chan was trying to calm down, Marissa had been trying to not kill me, and Kat had started to close herself off from everyone. But, it was also apparent that they were all hurt from my words. Yeah, I did hate them for a brief second, but now that I yelled at them and said the things that I know make them tick, I felt bad about it too. However, pride took full control over me, which ended with me explaining why I will always be stronger then they would ever dream to be, and having me stalk off in the direction of the city.

'I only said those things because, just the fact that they could have deeply hurt Tala kun, and then seeing them act so...so...carefree about it afterwards, it got me enraged. Marissa and Kat had both smiled and acted so...friendly with each other, and for some reason, I got jealous of that, too. It almost seems that they never act that way when it's just me talking with them individually; I guess just noticing that made me feel weak, inferior. I know that there will always be certain people to know everything about the other, but I want to be that person to them all, I want to be there for them, to be the one to make them smile. But, recently, I'm the one that causes them this pain, and causes their smiles to vanish. I'm a horrible person and an even worse friend. How can I expect them to forgive me after that? I know that I could never do that. But, in reality, most of the words I said were just reflections of what they mean to me. I think lowly of myself, and think of myself as the weakest, so by saying that they were all of which I see in myself, it gave me a way to yell at myself without them arguing about it in the end.'

A large crowd of people walked by me, all smiling at each other and such, they're steps were light with happiness; the thing of which was unknown to me at that current moment. I wish that I could be that person, the happy one, the one that anyone could go to for help, anything at all! A sigh escaped my lips slowly, and my dull gaze left them to look at the backs of people in front of me. Why must I say all the wrong thins at all the wrong times? My walk was heavy, and my hair got longer then it normally would have been; I'm not sure I could feel any lower. I'm not sure what they're feeling right now, what they're thinking right now, or if they'll forgive me.

The streets were littered with many people, most were smiling or just talking on their cell phones, or swinging their bags filled with things that they acquired. Everything seemed so normal, as if the world didn't care that I felt this horrid. I know that friends are always there for you, but I think I over stepped the border this time; I think I might have pushed it too far, my friendship is in jeopardy. I stopped at the corner, and waited for the okay to walk was signalled. In a few short minutes, it was, and everyone else waiting with me left the curb and continued on their happy ways.

With my head low, I joined them, and turned off the street and headed down a very foreboding alley way. I was alone, truly and utterly alone. I exhaled, and stopped to lean against the dark walls; why did this feel so much worse then it usually does? Usually, I just assume that they'll forgive me, but now I'm not so sure. My eyes closed, and I slowly sunk down to my knees. My mind drifted off, and soon I was fast asleep in a world of terror that no one could ever hope to ease.

AN: WAHAHAHA! Bob Chillies chilly was made in Chilly, and he was chilling. Get it, my mom and bro and myself made that up! I SMELL...SUSTANENCE! eyes rolls back in head convulses on floor foam appears at mouth o.o' wow, that'd be awkward to see, now wouldn't it?! I HATE CHEESE! I also hate many vegetables, and such, weird eh? I'm like, a carnivore! ' Then, do I eat humans?! NO! Kekeke! OROCHIMARU! Man, his voice is creepy in English and Japanese, oddness. .V DEIDARA! (Not mine, but yet, Masashi Kishimoto's, both Deidara and Orochimaru!) Well, bye, review me! If I do not get at least three reviews, I shall not repost till I get them! laughs okay, bye!


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty: Forgiven

LAST TIME:

With my head low, I joined them, and turned off the street and headed down a very foreboding alley way. I was alone, truly and utterly alone. I exhaled, and stopped to lean against the dark walls; why did this feel so much worse then it usually does? Usually, I just assume that they'll forgive me, but now I'm not so sure. My eyes closed, and I slowly sunk down to my knees. My mind drifted off, and soon I was fast asleep in a world of terror that no one could ever hope to ease.

Now:

A few hours later

I sauntered home with a very sullen expression; why did I feel so low? Like the ground was somehow going to get higher up then me. I slowly reached for the door handle to the hotel as the sun had set long ago and it wasn't good to stay outside so late. Besides that, my team...my team...Tala! 'I can't believe that I forgot about him; he must feel so horrible. Okay, the first thing that I do once I'm inside is make sure that he's alright. I'm such a bad friend, I yelled at my best friends, and I forgot about Tala kun, how low must I sink today?' I thought as I pushed the door open. I quickly ran up the stairs and rushed towards my hotel room.

However, my memory isn't very good, so, I got lost in the moment while I was running. I glanced around nervously at the white washed walls around me. Everything looked the same! The same coloured walls, the same thin carpet, everything was exactly the same! I began to get panicky; how on earth did I get so lost?!

As I wandered down the hallway with a calm indifference, but inside I felt like hiding underneath a rock. I felt so credulous; Tala kun would definitely say something about this, either him or Ian. I stopped halfway down a hallway; what was I doing here? I didn't belong here, and I doubt anyone else on my team would get lost so easily. I'm such a wimp, and a disgrace to my team...my strong team. I hung my head down, and closed my azure eyes. My body soon began to tremble as my thoughts over whelmed me. My fists that were at my sides were shaking as well.

In a few minutes, sleep began to take its toll on me too; this was a really vile day. In the midst of my angered thoughts, I was soon aware of someone else's presence just down the hall. As soon as I was aware of them, I looked up and realized that Tala kun was in front of me, only a few feet away. I almost instantly grabbed my right arm through self consciousness; how long was he there exactly? He sighed lowly, and turned back around after I stared at him silently. 'Why is he leaving me? He must still feel substandard because of what Kiyoko chan said.' After watching him walk away, and then seeing him turn the corner, I suddenly felt lost and alone; surprisingly more so then when I was in that alley way.

Sighing, I took off in his direction; thankfully he wasn't that far away. I breathed in a sigh of relief, and ran after him quickly. "Tala kun, wait up!" I called after him. He stopped just in time for me to catch up to him, but when I got closer; I was suddenly unaware of the carpet. I heard him sigh deeply, and then he turned around just in time to see me fall right in front of him. I quickly closed my eyes, awaiting the impact that would soon come. However, it didn't come; instead someone's strong arms came around my waist and caught me just in time.

I glanced up at Tala's face above me now, his calm, understanding face. We stayed like that for a long while, and then I stepped back from him and his hands returned to his sides. My face was soon flushed with embarrassment; Tala kun has just seen me fall flat on my face, and into his arms. "Um, I'm sorry about falling on you, Tala kun, I'm sure that you have a reason to be out here...alone...and you probably don't want to be stuck baby-sitting me," his whole expression softened, and he smiled ever so slightly.

"It's alright, Kiko chan, you didn't mean to. And, I'm actually just thinking...so you didn't interrupt anything." I smiled happily up at him, and for a split second, our eyes met. Then he turned away, and once again, it was as if he never smiled at all. "Kiko chan...Do you...honestly think...that I would harm you, or your friends...?" His voice seemed so hesitant to ask me; I knew that he was worried about it, even if it didn't show. I lightly reached up and touched his arm, his face lifted to my own, and I smiled up at him contently.

"I honestly think that everyone has the power to hurt anyone, but even if you did harm me, I know that you would never mean it, and that you'd apologize after," he looked at me, and I smiled up at him; 'his eyes are so...beautiful to stare at, you could get lost in them if you stared for too long.' "Your eyes are so... scenic..." I said totally absentmindedly. His surprised glance said that he was surprised that I said it too.

"Thank you...for both...things. Thank you for being honest towards me, I know it's not the easiest thing in the world to do...and your eyes...are the most beautiful," a small smile creased his lips, and my own just increased in size. We remained like that for a little while, and then I let a small laugh escape my lips.

"Um, thank you as well..." he nodded, and our conversation continued,

"Kiko chan, why were you out here in the first place?" I blushed even more from that.

"Um, I was on my way back, and I got lost...Tala kun, could I accompany you?" He smiled, and nodded at me. With that, he turned, and we both walked down the hallway in silence, but it was a good kind of silence. As we were walking beside each other, I was once again reminded of how much taller he was then me. My head only came to the higher part of his chest or just the middle of it; so awkward. I'm such a midget next to him, and even more so compared to Bryan and Spencer. I began to giggle softly due to the oddness of my thoughts of our height. His Frostic eyes glanced down at me, and a single red eye brow was raised in question to why my laughter was heard, which of course, I wasn't going to tell him. I mean, who on earth could tell Tala Valkov that you were a midget compared to him?!

"I was...just thinking of how...midget like I am next to everyone on my team...except Ian kun," apparently I was the kind who'd tell him. The corners of his mouth rose slightly, and a humorous twinkle came into his normally unfeeling eyes; I guess this was the first time today that he felt jovial. I glanced up at him with a very ecstatic sparkle in my always icy eyes. He quickly looked back up in front of us, and a small, almost inaudible chuckle came out of his mouth.

"Well, I guess it's only natural because you're a girl...but we don't mind that you're shorter then us...it doesn't have any effect on your power," I nodded, and suddenly, within the sequence of a sentence, all hopes of actually getting a real compliment were dashed. Did he have to put in my strength at every waking moment? I wonder why he does that...maybe it has something to do with his genetic enhancement. A sigh escaped his pale lips, and his wintry eyes closed, "it...doesn't effect how we see you...is what I meant..." His subzero eyes flickered open, and he once more gazed down at me. The hopefulness that I felt before had came back, and my exultant spark came back.

"Uh, thank you, Tala kun," he nodded, and the silence raged on. I then randomly wanted to ask about his genetics; even though I knew that it was definitely not my place to ask. But, I really wanted to know about it, it wasn't as if he'd tell me on his own anyways, I might as well ask then; but is it the right time to inquire about such things?

"Um, Tala kun...my friend...she told me...that you were-"he quickly stopped walking and stared at me in disbelief. I knew that I wasn't supposed to know about it, but I just couldn't help myself...I really am too curious. He sighed, and then looked around to see if anyone was around here to hear about it; was it that big of a deal? I mean, wouldn't you want to yell it out at the world that you're different? Well, I guess since I'm not, it might be not as easy as everyone thinks it to be.

"Genetically enhanced, right, that's what she said," I nodded, and he sighed once again. He slowly brought his hand up to his pale Russian face, and after a few minutes, he resumed talking, "what do you want to know?" His voice wasn't quiet and deadly, it was quiet...and almost scared sounding, like he didn't want me to know about it. I shifted uncomfortably in my stance, and kept my gaze locked onto the floor.

"Why did you...get...genetically altered, or was it not your decision?" He shook his head, and he kept his polar gaze onto me.

"I got mutated because; I wanted power...so that would be why I comment on yours all the time...so that you never make the same mistake as me..." His voice trailed off from there, and suddenly the air around us was awkward; what had I done? I know, I asked something about him that was very personal, and I shouldn't have even known about it, really. I smiled faintly up at him though, and lightly touched his arm; I honestly don't care what he is, or what he was, as long as he's still Tala Valkov, captain of Neoborg.

"Tala kun, I honestly don't care what you are; I won't behave differently because of it. You're still Tala Valkov, team captain of Neoborg, one of the strongest beybladers in the world, and one of my friends. Please, don't push me away because I know of your genetics; I would have found out somehow anyway, I won't push you away because of it; consider yourself stuck with me till I die, okay?" My voice was calm and sincere, and my eyes were a very mystical polar blue. He looked down at me, and his eyes seemed to have some relief in them, as did the rest of his body. He nodded to me, and he smiled softly; he really did have a cute smile!

"Thank you, Kiko chan; you can't even fathom how much it means to me..." His voice sounded so...genuine and, kind of guilty; but why guilty? I smiled up at him even though his smile was long gone. I then let my eyes trail down to the ground out of awkwardness. 'I wish there was someway to get him to actually believe me, but how do I gain his trust back? I guess, that saying: actions speak louder then words, might be able to help me. I really want him to feel normal around me like before, so maybe if I...' A thought suddenly popped into my head, and my gaze quickly shot back up to him. I sighed slowly, and lightly took a step towards him. He stepped back, and I stepped forward yet again, until he couldn't go back any farther, in which I smirked up at him. An unusual look came into his Frostic eyes; he seemed unsure and slightly scared...or nervous. A small smile creased my lips, and I gently wrapped my arms around his waist, and brought myself right up against him. He didn't really do anything for the first few moments of the embrace, and then he gently placed his arms around me. My eyes closed, and I soon felt his chin on my head; it was an incredibly...odd feeling...and yet it was comforting. I heaved a great sigh, and leant against him somewhat.

In a few minutes, he seemed to be less tense around me, but, he eventually did let go and we parted slightly from each other. I smiled up at him, and he returned it; surprisingly it was really noticeable. But, our moment of silence was soon ended, as the one named Zeo kun came down the hallway. His long, emerald green hair trailed behind him in fluid motions. He glanced up at us with an air of uncertainty; did he know about Tala kun too? His emotionless green eyes flickered up at us verifying his uncertainty.

"Uh, hi Zeo san; what are you doing this late at night?" I asked really out of curiosity, but instead received a very cold glare from with wondrous vert eyes (Wahaha, vert means green in French, just wanted to use it; midterm is next week, then why am I writing? O.O). I was quickly taken aback; what did I do to suddenly make him hate me? It was like in one look all of his emotions of hatred were thrown at me in a ruthless matter. "Zeo san...are you okay?" He grunted, and walked past us, and turned onto a different corridor then the one we came down from. My Frostic eyes followed him, wishing that he'd tell me something. Was it because of Tala kun, or was it something more? Well, I shouldn't have been prodding, I mean we just met; but c'mon, he could have answered me at least politely!

In the midst of my thoughts, Tala had watched his actions, and my reactions. He let out a small sigh, and he gently rested his hand on my shoulder. His unexpected action brought me back to reality, and our eyes met in unison. I quickly blushed lightly, and let my gaze drop from his spectacular polar ice eyes. He smiled faintly, unbeknownst to me of course; my eye sight was somewhere else..."Kiko chan, you know that it's alright if you look at me, okay? And, don't let Zaggart bother you, he's like that way to everyone. His father wasn't...the best...so he doesn't trust anyone, and doesn't really like anyone. He can tolerate Tyson, though, so I'll give him that much credit." I looked back up at him, and smiled shyly, and nodded slowly. I understood what he was going through...my father wasn't the best either, but I'm not even sure if Tala kun remembered his.

For a brief moment, our gazes were interlocked, and then his was stolen away to glance down the hallway. "We should probably head back now, right Tala kun?" He looked at me, and nodded a 'yes' to me. With that little bit of 'Tala Language', he led me back to the room.

Once at the room, everyone looked up at us; some of them even looked slightly terrified. Did they honestly feel that much reverence towards their team captain's emotions? Spencer soon got up from where he was seated with Bryan, and Bryan followed him. They both walked calmly towards us, and both gave a slight smile to me. Ian, however, came running from his bed, and threw his small arms around my legs. I smiled down at him, but because he caught me off guard, I was forced to fall back against Tala kun. So, now I'm leaning against him, and Ian kun's clinging to my legs, while Bryan and Spencer are gawking at all three of us.

"Um, uh, thanks guys, but um, you really don't have to, um, hug me, Ian kun," he looked back up at me with his big bay colored eyes, they were filled with so much happiness and relief, but why? Were they actually worried about me? Wow; once again, they have shown their emotions without saying a single word insinuating it. I giggled softly, and smiled down at him. But, my gaze was quickly taken away to stare at Bryan and Spencer, who were for some unearthly reason, staring at Tala kun, and then staring at me! This unforeseen indication of emotion was beginning to seem, oddly strange and incredibly fantastic.

"You know, you guys are really, the best team that I could have ever been so fortunate to be on; I'm so happy that we met," they all looked taken aback, and Ian kun stepped away from me to stand with Bryan kun and Spencer kun. I sighed, and absentmindedly grabbed my right arm tightly. "Yeah, I know, unexpectedly strange, but what ever. I just wanted to let you guys know that...even if you tried to take over the world in the past." Their eyes all instantly shot up, and fear seemed to leak in all corners of their expressions. I cocked my head slightly, and eventually, they figured out that it was a compliment; even if it was a badly worded compliment.

"They, your friends I mean...told you about our past...actions, right? Or did you just find out by chance?" I shook my head, and lowered my gaze; I knew I wasn't supposed to know about it. I quietly began tightening my grip on my right arm, which the rest of my team soon discovered when my arm started receiving little finger nail marks. Tala kun gently laid his strong hand on me, and Spencer kun placed his own hand on top of my arm to stop me from hurting myself.

"Its okay, Kiko chan, you would have found out anyways. It isn't something we're proud of, but we can move on from it and learn from our mistakes. You don't have to worry about us," I nodded to Spencer's kind words, and smiled up at him. After a few more minutes of awkwardly standing there mutely, the boys moved aside to let Tala and I through, in which we then stood awkwardly in the kitchen area. After more minutes of awkwardness, it was interrupted by a sneeze courtesy of me.

"Ahh choo," I quickly cupped my nose with my petit hands, and Spencer kun began to chuckle to himself. Bryan kun shook his head and joined in Spencer's snickering. Tala kun smirked and Ian snickered and smiled mischievously! Tala kun quickly left my side, and then came back with a maroon box of Kleenex. I shyly took it, and wiped my nose. I looked like a strawberry I was blushing so much! They all just smirked at me and Tala kun placed the box of Kleenex on the table. Pretty soon, though, a yawn creased my lips.

"Kiko chan, it is pretty late, you should go to bed; oh, and we'll be training tomorrow," I looked up at Tala, and nodded slowly. I then nodded 'bye' to the rest of Neoborg, and wandered back towards my part of the room. I yawned again, and quickly changed into black, baggy pants, and a black tank top. My icicle like eyes moved over to the mirror by my bed, so I wandered over to it, and took my hair down from my high pony tail. I then began to brush it until it was smooth and silky. Sighing, I put my hair brush down, and switched the lamp off (I'm not sure who turned it on!). 'Why was my lamp on, oh well, someone probably came in here looking for their shoe or something.' With that last thought, I climbed into bed, and quickly went off to sleep.

Outside Kiko's room

My white/silver/grey long hair swirled around me in the midst of the night. The only sounds audible were the cries of many dying rats as they fall victim to the many owls flying about. Crickets chirped at any chance they could without getting mauled by the creatures of the night. The streets were filled with cars and people, horns were honking left and right, and people were cursing every five minutes. Yeah, this was where I grew up around, yelling people, how joyous.

I watched with my crimson eyes as the lights in her room flickered off. Try as I may, I couldn't find her beyblade, or that charm around her scrawny neck! I found nothing; Boris san was going to kill me...but I deserved it for disobeying him, yet again. My eyes quickly lifted to search the midnight sky; it was dotted with tiny silver lights. They were so peaceful, and yet so oblivious to everyone's suffering. Why must the world be lost in a maze like that? People are so vain to the things they don't understand.

I shook my head, and with one last look at the building, I jumped off of the roof, and onto the next one, and continued to do so till I reached a small one, and then jumped down from the roof and onto the crowded streets below.

morning-Kiko's POV

I yawned slightly, and my subzero eyes flickered open. I laid on my bed silently, gazing up at the bleached roof. How was it ugly, I cannot believe that anyone would actually like this ugly place! I groaned, and rolled over to stare at the clock beside me. The big, carnation coloured digital numbers read: 5:27 am. My face scrunched up into one of a vile nature; why did I get up so early?! Well, now I couldn't even fathom of getting back to my glorious dream! Whenever I wake up so early in the day, I can never seem to get back to sleep.

I laid there for a little bit more, then sighed and got up from my bed. I quickly stepped over towards my suit case, and picked it up by its straps. I lifted it over my bed, and dumped its contents onto it. With a smug smirk, I began digging through it quickly. My small hand reached over to a white and red tight shirt. I normally don't wear white, but I was going to wear my sweater over top of it. I then ran my hand over my many pairs of jeans, and pulled up a pair of faded black ones from the high pile. With a short glance overlooking my outfit for the day, I quickly switched into it, and threw everything back into the suit case.

Now I had nothing to do, so I sat laboriously on my bed, and stared at my hands. 'Maybe I should change my nail polish...yeah...it is something to do...' I quickly stood up, and wandered back over to where I chucked my suit case, and then rummaged through it to find the needed objects. In around 10 minutes, I found them, and pulled them all out; the nail polish remover, the nail polish, and the top coating for it all. They were all set into order beside me, and I pondered over what color to put on. I finally decided on blood red, and quickly put all the other colors away.

I casually opened up the lid to the nail polish remover, and put each individual finger into the alcoholic substance that was contained in an orange and white container. In 10 minutes, all my old nail polish was gone, and I quickly closed up the remover. The smell that came from the container was intoxicating and was beginning to burn the inside of my nose. I calmly got up from the floor, and opened the window to let in some of the fresh morning air. The smell was a lot better then the other putrid scent that was rapidly filling the room. I was soon satisfied with the clean air, and went back to continue with what I had been doing.

In 15 minutes, I was done, and was now airing out the room, yet again. The smell wasn't gone, but I went back and put everything back inside my suit case. I then stepped gingerly past the curtain, and glanced over my sleeping team. They looked so peaceful; it was a nice change of emotion then what I had been used to seeing. I shook my head, and walked into the bathroom.

In a few short minutes, I left the corridors of the bathroom, and sauntered over to the kitchen. I stood there calmly, and waited for an idea to magically pop into my head; nothing did come into my head. So, for a long time unknown to me, I stood there mindlessly. "Kiko chan, what exactly are you doing here?" I jumped at least ten feet in the air, and quickly turned on my heel to face the person who dared surprise me! Suddenly after I saw the man in front of me, all thoughts of anger subsided.

"Um, I'm not really sure what I'm doing...I was bored so I decided to stand in here till I wasn't bored anymore, what are you doing?" The tall Russian in front of me raised an eyebrow slightly, and 'hn'ed to me. I calmly smiled at him, and shuffled over to let him pass. Then he smiled at me in a very cute way; hey wait, why on earth was I thinking this?! This isn't a good thing; I can't let my team captain know that I like him in that way! My wintry eyes followed his movements as he proceeded farther into the kitchen. Then, he stopped, and turned back around to face me.

"I usually make coffee in the mornings for my team, do you want to help or watch or something? It is something to do besides standing there mindlessly," his voice was so wonderful...NO, I cannot think such things about Tala kun!

I nodded to him, and walked briskly over to him. He nodded to me in return, and resumed wandering over to where the coffee pot was. I followed him, and stood beside him; I'm not really a fan of the mocha flavoured substance. He didn't seem to mind that I was watching him make it; he just seemed so concentrated on making the drink. I smiled up at his pale face and glistening polar eyes. Finally, he was done, and he had just taken notice of my staring at him. "What are you staring at, Kiko chan?" I startled from the unexpected noise in the midst of the never ending silence.

"Um, I'm staring...at you..." I said quietly to him, his look afterwards said that he disapproved of it. Why did he not like it, it wasn't as if I was scrutinizing him. "I'm not staring at you to see what things make you tick, okay? You were just there...and...Well who cares why I was staring at you!" Like I could bluntly tell him: I was staring at you because you're just so cute! Yeah, like I'd ever have the guts to do that sort of thing; not my style, besides, I'm too shy.

"Kiko chan...I care why you're staring at me so intently, and after what I told you last night, what exactly do you think I'm thinking about with your intent gawk," I forgot that I had just found out last night of his genetics; man do I hate my memory. Did he honestly want to know why I was gaping at him? Well, maybe I should tell him something at least, instead of leaving him to hang. "So then why were you staring at me...?" The tone in his voice was foreboding and cold; and now I have to tell him...lucky me...what a wondrous way to start the day!

"Look...you...you're...I can't do this right now!" I stammered, and with the last comment said, I ran back to my own part of the room. I stopped once by the window, and breathed heavily; why must I be such a shy chicken? Now he's going to think that I think that he's a freak, which he's not! I am for not being able to bluntly tell him that he's hot! I sighed, and sat down on my mahogany sheeted bed, and then fell back against it. My eyes remained open for a few more minutes, and then they closed tiredly. Well, guys don't like being called hot, do they? I read this one e-mail and it said that guys didn't like being called that, so girls should try calling them handsome. The e-mail also said that 75 of males like having the female make the first move; ha, like I'd ever be able to do that!

Another sigh escaped my lips, and I rolled over onto my side to face the window in front of me now. The sky was a pale salmon color with little bits of light yellow mixed in. The clouds were big and fluffy, it looked as if one could just sit on them and then all of their problems would leave them. If only that was so easy, but it never is, I'm never going to be able to ever be at peace, right? And yet another issue came up, and it was only the start of the day; how was I going to act around Tala kun now? How was he going to act around me now? What was he feeling now? I doubt he'd ever tell me even if I did ask him...oh well...thus is life.

Nothing seemed to go right anymore, was it my fault? I calmly opened my eyes as a soft knock came to my ears. "Mm, what is it now?" I asked tiredly, and a yawn just finished it off. I didn't even bother to turn around; I thought that it would just be Spencer kun wanting to know what happened, or to attempt to wake me up again. "Listen, Spencer kun, if you want to know what happened, it really is none of your business, okay?" No answer came, but the quiet footsteps came to my bed, and I felt someone else sit down on my bed beside me. I sighed sullenly; it appears that he's not going to leave me alone so easy this time. "Spencer; just leave me alone!" I yelled at him while getting up and throwing my pillow at him. Unfortunately, it wasn't whom I expected it to be, as irony would have it, it was Tala kun. So, of course my face turned crimson with embarrassment; why me? "Um, Tala kun...I didn't know it was you! I'm sorry for hitting you with the pillow!" His eyes flickered into my own, and there seemed to be a twinge of anger in his subzero orbs. He exhaled, and calmly but quickly placed his strong hands over my mouth to stop my loud speaking.

"Shh...Kiko chan...I think we need to talk...okay...? Now, I'm going to take my hand back, and you're going to keep your voice low...okay?" I nodded, and he did what he promised to do; he let go of my mouth. "Now, I know that you had...or have something to say...so say it, I won't get mad," his voice was so calm and serene I almost wanted to believe him; but what if he meant it? My whole body was shaking, and I nodded to him in an unsteady manner.

"I...I was going to say...that I was staring at you...because you...are so...handsome," I kept my gaze lowered, and my hands scrunched up into fists on my lap. I didn't hear anything from him, so I dared glance up to see his emotion. To my surprise, he was glancing over at me, with not anger in his eyes, but confusion. His mouth was slightly a gap, but not that much. He shook his head, and closed his arctic eyes.

"I'm...handsome...no one has ever told me that before...thank you...Kiko chan...And you're beautiful," he said softly to me. I gave up trying to be this calm little girl, so my emotions showed this time. I'm beautiful...did he need glasses or something? I'm nothing special...but maybe that's why he thinks that way...or maybe he actually means it...that would be so wonderful. He looked up at me, and smiled quietly. I returned his smile, and moved closer to him somewhat. He didn't move, but he did keep his glacial gave on me.

"Thanks, Tala kun..." I smiled more noticeably now, and he did the same. Then, out of the blue, I felt his warm body against my own small frame. His strong arms were embracing me, and his chin was on top of my head. My face was right up against his chest, and I heard each individual heart beat; it was so wonderful and calming at the same time, like an old teddy bear from your child hood that scared away your fears. I felt his chest heaving with every breath he took, and his arms only tightened around me. I closed my icicle like eyes, and leaned against him somewhat. I felt so relieved and at peace; like the cloud I had watched earlier seemed to be.

We stayed like that for a long time, and then we parted slightly. My face was still a light pink, but my fears of having to be cold to him all day were gone. "Um, wow...that was...so nice...who knew you'd be a great hugger too!" He smiled down at me, and got up from the bed silently. He reached his hand down to me, and I took it gently. His strong and much larger hand then closed over my own, and helped me up from my bed. Without letting go of my hand, he led me past the curtain and towards the kitchen again. Where I watched him pour coffee into four cups, and then watched him drink the substance. He had offered me some, but I declined and then explained to him that coffee was dirt with water.

He leaned against the counter of the kitchen and I stood in front of him contently. His fiery red hair stuck out so awesomely, only Tala could ever pull that hair style off. I calmly leaned against the wall on the opposite side of him. On the other side of the wall we could hear Spencer's snoring, Ian's mumbling, and Bryan's cursing. They really did do strange things in their sleep, more so then me! I chuckled softly, and Tala raised an eyebrow at me while he put his now empty glass on the counter top beside him.

"Who knew that they'd do such interesting things in their sleep," Tala snickered softly, and he nodded in response.

"Yeah, the first time I stayed in a hotel with them was...just odd. The stuff they said and did made me lose sleep for a while...I'm still not sure how you can sleep soundly with their snoring, and talking and such," Tala said with his voice so full of life.

We both snickered quietly, and then we wandered over to the other room to listen in on their odd conversations with themselves. But, what Bryan said was what made us stop our snickering, "Kiko chan...I love you..."

AN: Kekeke, a cliff hanger! How will Tala and Kiko respond to this, hm? You'll have to find out later, I'm still working on it! As usual, if I do not receive at least three reviews for this, I will not post till I get them! Wahaha! CHEESE! I was eating a cheese sandwich while writing the last part! And the sound of the plunger is in the back ground...-,-'how nice; amazing sound effects eh? GAARA! (I do not own this awesome character) I cannot wait to add in the...other girl that randomly popped up; oh yes, she is mine, and please do not copy her! Her name...is undecided at the current moment. TIOLET! chews on pen hehehe! So, yes, I'll be seeing you guys later! I can't believe its chapter 30, so...odd. I have so many expectations for this, and...I'm on chapter 30...I hate chapters! I also hate school, it cuts down on the amount of time that I can write, but somehow I always (or most of the time), post within a week or so, strange isn't it? .V K, well, Cya later! REVIEW ME!


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Untold Worry

**Last time:**

We both snickered quietly, and then we wandered over to the other room to listen in on their odd conversations with themselves. But, what Bryan said was what made us stop our snickering, "Kiko chan...I love you..."

**Continued Story: **

I stood there motionless; did he just say what I think he said? Bryan moved over onto his side, and he remained in his deep sleep. 'He loves me...? But, how, I mean it's not like I don't love him...well it is...I like Tala, not Bryan! But, of course...it's the one I want that only wants me as a friend, just my dumb luck.' My polar eyes soon trailed up to Tala kun; his subzero eyes were slightly wide, and his fists were shaking a bit. Either from anger or surprise, I doubt I'll ever know. He quickly got a hold of his emotions, and he looked emotionless as he stared coldly down at me; why was he angry at me?

"Um, Tala kun, are you okay?" My small voice felt like it didn't even penetrate him and his wall of ice. The ice around his heart was thicker then that of an ice burg; how idiotic I was to even hope to melt it at least a little. He would never respond the way I would want him to if I told him anyways; yeah, I am a complete dolt.

I shuffled uneasily when he said nothing; he also didn't do anything except look away from me. I absentmindedly grabbed my left arm and my gaze dropped to the floor self consciously. I suddenly felt so unwanted near him, and that feeling doesn't really happen a lot around him. "I'm going to go...into my room...I'll see you later, Tala kun," my voice was very quiet now as my confidence dropped by the second. And without waiting for a reply from Tala, I quickly left the area and fell onto my mahogany bed. I closed my icicle like eyes, and slowly drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

Tala's POV

I stood there in complete shock; did he just say he loved her? My Kiko chan...No...She's not mine...but...I sighed deeply, and finally noticed that she had left my side. I shook my head slowly, and my frosty eyes closed tiredly; this was not a good start to the day, and I still had to help her with her training...it's going to be awkward. For some reason though, I felt as if I should be saying the same thing to her what Bryan accidentally did...what is this feeling? It's messing up my mind, my emotions, will it ruin my reputation? Well, because she's not exactly a preppy person or whatever, it shouldn't be that bad...right?

My thoughts and emotions swirled around me in a never ending vortex of complete and utter pain. The confusion was insane and was starting to make me feel dizzy. I wavered slightly from the sudden mix of confusion circling me in its ugly grasp. My normally calm and icy eyes had suddenly twisted into something else; nervous and a deeper shade of blue usually kept unseen.

'I think I'll go back to sleep, on the couch or something.' I quietly leaned against the couch, and soon my legs gave weigh beneath me. I crashed to the floor below me, with my back straight against the black leather couch. I rested my head against it tiredly, and my eyes closed. Soon, I was drifting in and out of sleep in a frustrating sort of way.

Later on that morning

My nerves were still on the rocks, but other than that, I was fine. My bright vermilion colored hair glowed in the presence of the ever present sun glaring in front the window in Kiko chan's room. Wait, why was it glaring at me if the curtain hiding her side of the room was strewn across the gap? Someone must have opened it while she was sleeping.

I groaned slightly and shifted in my sitting position. My eyes were half open, and sleep was threatening to take over me again. Then, a soft touch graced my shoulder in a very gentle way. I didn't want anyone touching me, but I didn't want to get up and deal with another problem at the moment. It was so calm and serene this morning; or was it just the sleep talking? "Tala kun, wake up, we're late for training," a soft voice above me called. I nodded slowly, sleep still trying to take control; the battle was quickly losing, pretty soon I'd be asleep again.

A sigh reached my ears, and the existence of someone else falling beside me was felt. I exhaled, and my Frostic eyes closed tiredly. 'We haven't even been here long, and I'm already worn out; last time I think it was much easier without a girl on our team, or my emotions fighting against my reputation.' I thought sullenly, 'no matter how much I want to say 'I love you', I know that I can't at the same time; it's pathetic really, guys like Tyson or Max could easily say that to a girl, but not me, it's always the hard way for me.'

"Tala kun, I know that you're tired, but you need to get up! We need to train!" There's that voice again, that almost angelic voice, but what they're saying is starting to get me-

A loud sound reverberated in the room, the sound of flesh against flesh. My eyes snapped open as the sound rang out.

Kiko's POV

I couldn't believe it, Spencer actually hit Tala! Spencer, the calm one, the one least likely to kill you just hit one of the most violent of our team! Spencer must be in a very bad mood, or has a good reason for it. I got up from the floor where I sat with Tala kun for the past few minutes, and stood over by Ian. I felt awkward around Bryan now because I didn't feel the same way about him that he does for me. The whole concept was very confusing to me, and kind of unnerving. I wasn't sure if everyone else felt that way about it; if they could feel the tension or not, but if not, then they must always be tense!

As my crystalline eyes gazed over each individual 'blader, I realized that they were all stiff looking, and kept a very strong and slightly angry glare at Tala kun, but I knew that they felt awkward for some unknown reason, and that they were partially afraid of what their team captain was going to do to them now. It was times like these that made me yearn for homework, math to be exact, just something stupid to break the silence with. Tala kun got up from where he had been sleeping, and glared at us in a very distrusting way; did he think I hated him now?

"Tala, нам нужно натренировать, одобренн? Вы можете общаться с вашими… эмоциональными проблемами более поздно! 'we need to train, okay? You can deal with your...emotional problems later!'

" Spencer said in very loud Russian; but what on earth did he say? He said it too fast, and this fact, and due to how loud it was, worried me deeply. Tala's eyes seemed hostile instead of what it had been the previous day. I knew that it wasn't my fault, it was probably what Spencer said and the fact that he had smacked him. Tala kun's narrowed eyes moved towards the doorway, and he marched towards it brushing past his team roughly as if demanding respect and fear. I simply sighed and followed him reluctantly; I didn't want to train today if it meant having his enmity thrown at us all.

He opened the door for us; well more like threw it open so far that it took longer for it to close on its own. I followed him beside Ian; I hadn't noticed before how tall his rifle was. Bryan and Spencer were behind us. They all walked with their backs straight, no emotion flickering on their faces or in their eyes, their hands were either clenched onto their guns, or clenched at their sides, and no sound came from them either. They looked like perfect soldiers marching into another war like an average-every-day thing. Much like how Napoleon's army would have marched; silent and willing.

We came to the lobby rather quickly, and everyone in it seemed to spread apart just to get out of our ways. Was our reputation so greatly revered that everyone needed to get away from us just so that they could escape with their lives? Yeah, it does sound weird, but that was what it looked like, people pushing others to get out of our way, and many had turned pale once we had entered. Yes, this feeling of being feared, it was great, it was wonderful, this was power! This miraculous thing was power; this trepidation was pleasing to me; I've yearned for this kind of sovereignty for so long and now I have it, but only within the confines of my team's care.

We stepped out of the building with ease, and continued down the side walk that led to where our personal training grounds were. 'Wow, I thought I had escaped from one prison, but yet just joined another. I can leave this one any time I want, they won't be pleased with my actions, but they wouldn't harm me, just not trust me ever again, maybe? But, because I yearn for this power, it's like it is a prison from which I could never even wish to escape from.

My mind was clouded with such thoughts till we came upon the alley from which we could access our training area from. I sighed deeply and realized that because Tala kun was in a bad mood and that he was in charge of training me, that he'd definitely train me harder then when he trained me last time. Last time he made me 'blade over the water, and this time he might just make me do something worse... I quickly dismissed the thoughts that encircled me, no; Tala'd never do that, right?

"Kiko chan, come with me, I'm training you, remember?" His tone made my skin tremble, it was so cold and unfeeling, like he never even cared about me before, like he just forgot about it, or wanted to forget about it. His face was like a stone, and appeared as if a smile never creased his lips. I nodded to him sullenly, and he roughly grabbed my thin arm, and dragged me towards where we trained last time. His grip felt like a steel clasp over my arm, sucking the energy out of me, and taking all of my strength out of my arm. By the time he let my arm go, a large red spot that was made from his large hand was left. His icicle like eyes quickly scanned over it, and he let out a gruff 'hn'. With that, he sighed, closed his eyes, and grabbed my arm again. This time, he led me to where the murky water pool was; how it scared me!

"Remember this, you infidel girl?" I flinched at being called 'infidel', what got him so angry today? Why did he have to take it out on me anyways; could it be because he knows I like him?! He continued when I nodded to him, and grabbed my now throbbing arm, "so get on the plank, baka Wieler!" I flinched at my last name; it was just something I wasn't proud of having at the end of my name. I nodded to him once more, and my normally clear, subzero eyes were now cold and foreboding. 'If he wants to mess with me, then he can try, but he won't hurt me!' My fists shook at my sides, and he seemed to notice this. He also seemed to notice how my jaw was suddenly set, and the color of my eyes.

He motioned for me to get onto the plank, and I did with steady legs, and waited for him to push me out into the middle of the water pool. I waited, and he eventually grabbed the edge of the plank, and pushed me farther out into the gross, green water. I shuddered slightly as I watched the water ripple with the movements of the wooden board. Finally, it stopped in the middle of the murky green water. I slowly reached into my hair, and pulled out my black, iron rip cord, and took my launcher and beyblade out as well. I placed my beyblade on my launcher, and put my rip cord within my launcher. I then waited for absolute silence, and once that was achieved, I launched my beyblade with much force behind it to match my anger and hurt from Tala's words and actions.

Five minutes had passed, and Edragore was still skimming the surface of the water. I turned on my heel, and expected to see my team captain there, but, he was gone. 'He left me, why did he leave me?! Is he coming back to help me back to the shore line?' Frustration and even more pain ripped up through my body, and betrayal flickered through my eyes. "Tala...Tala...Why did you leave me? Please, Tala, come back." I whispered hoarsely to the wind.

Edragore was still spinning on the water's surface, and that fact had fled from the corners of my memory. For, in the while that I was lost in turmoil and waiting for Tala kun to come back to me, Edragore had spun in a wide arc, and was now rapidly spinning towards me. His dark energy was surrounding him in a wide circle, which made his speed unfathomable and his power just as stunning to watch. In a few short minutes, or maybe even less, the dark dragon was only a few more strokes away from my board. 3, 2, 1, and then, BANG! His dark energy hit me first, and then the dragon himself did. The plank lurched forward and back as he relentlessly hit me.

I closed my eyes and counted to 10, but he still continued to attack. Then, he reared up, and sped forward again, his high pitched screams were the last thing to flood my memory before I plunged into the liquid below me. Bubbles and such covered where I had fallen. I struggled to get to the surface, but the board that was to keep me safe had somehow gotten on top of me; I was trapped. I wildly swung my feet around attempting to tread the water, but my efforts were in vain. The water sure was deep, deeper then I ever imagined it to be.

I pushed up against the wooden plank and attempted to lift it up so that I could get air to fill my lungs instead of the murky water that was going to soon be my grave. My normally medium length dark hair had now grown longer and was now a pale blue color. It swirled around me threatening to strangle me at any given moment in time. The air that I had gathered before my plunge into the murky darkness below me was quickly depleting; I was drowning. My icy eyes had opened and the particles of the liquid trying to murder me was getting into my eyes and sending waves of pain into them.

My mind soon began to get clouded over with the thoughts of all the things I should have said to my friends and team mates. My eye sight was soon beginning to fail, and large black circle came into my vision; was I dying, was this feeling the feeling of death? My energy was rapidly decreasing, and soon I had no energy to tread water or to push up on the plank. My vision had long since left me, and now only black was there to comfort me in the last moments of my shortened life.

Tala's POV

I sauntered back to where I had left her to train, forgetting the time as I strained myself to calm down; but it had no effect. I hadn't been this angry and confused in a long time, well, not since we left Moscow. I closed my subzero eyes and remembered the words Spencer yelled at me, ', нам нужно натренировать, одобренн? Вы можете общаться с вашими… эмоциональными проблемами более поздно!' that guy was as good as dead the next time I see his smug face. I looked down and then remembered what Bryan said; apparently I wasn't the only one who 'loved' her. I shrugged off the feeling of guilt as I tried to put up a facade of a strong, cold leader. But, when I burst through the trees, I didn't see her. My eyes scanned the area, she wasn't anywhere. I jogged towards the bank, and looked down at the soft ground below my feet, no foot prints. So, she didn't leave the area, then where was she?

I looked over at the water, and saw the remnants of bubbles, did she fall in? Worry over came my mind, and I immediately started running towards where the wooden plank was. The bubbles had stopped now, she was no longer breathing. 'No, I won't make it in time, I have to get to her faster, but-that's it!' I quickly held in my breath, and dived into the murky substance that was now at my waist. I let my ice cold eyes open, and managed to find her in the midst of the translucent water.

I reached my hands out to her, and the air I was keeping was quickly being wasted. My hands soon collided with something soft and hard at the same time; flesh, Kiko chan! I swiftly wrapped my arms around her thin frame, and pushed up against the current of the water. My head hit something durable, and I guessed that it was the board. I pushed up against it, and in a short while, both of our faces had breached the surface of the water.

I coughed up the water I had swallowed, and breathed in the life giving air. I looked down at her still body, she wasn't breathing. An alarm was sent out throughout my body; was she dead, was I too late? I refused to give up on her, and I quickly dragged her on top of the board that had almost killed her. My fiery red hair was drenched in water, and it dripped on her pale face as I leaned over her. I breathed heavily while trying to think about what to do about her. 'Should I check for a pulse?' My shaky hands quickly brought up her small hand, and I gently felt around her wrist wishing for a pulse, wishing for anything. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly, still trying to get my breath back to normal. I waited, and then there it was, a heart beat. My eyes opened quickly, and I breathed a sigh of relief, she was alive, but her pulse was very faint, I now needed to help her get all of the water out of her body.

I gazed down at her, and placed my hands were they were to be placed in order to do CPR. After pushing on her to get the water out, I carefully set my lips against hers and forced water down her throat. Her lips were so cold; she almost looked and felt dead. I stopped after a few seconds, and then started pushing down on her once more. I quickly felt her pulse on her thin wrist again, it was getting stronger. "Kiko, you need to wake up, Kiko!" I yelled desperately to her still form. I then pressed my lips against hers again and breathed in more air to her. I did this a few more times, and then she rolled over on her own, and began coughing up water. I breathed heavily, my eyes were clear now with the knowledge that she was alive.

Her coughing stopped after a few minutes, and she slowly opened her Frostic eyes. She gazed up at me uncertainly, and her pale lips soon creased into a small smile. 'She's alive...she's alive...my Kiko is alive.' I slowly laid down next to her and closed my icy eyes. In five minutes, I reopened my eyes and continued to stare at her deeply. I gently reached out to her, and brushed some of her hair away from her wonderful eyes. "Kiko, I'm so glad, I'm so glad that you're alive," she gave me a look of surprise, and I realized that I wasn't exactly forgiven yet. "Kiko, we should talk, about this morning and what happened just now," she nodded to me, and we both remained quiet for a few elongated minutes. 'This is harder then I thought it would be. I never realized that I might actually be lost without her, that I might actually miss her. I have never been scared of losing someone before...I thought for sure that she was dead...that she died thinking that I hated her.'

"Kiko, I'm sorry, for everything. I'm sorry for leaving you, and I'm sorry for my cold attitude this morning." She smiled softly at me, and kicked me lightly.

"You might have left me, but you did just save my life. You shouldn't be sorry for this morning, it's not your fault that Bryan kun likes me, and I'm used to having the cold shoulder by many, and, it didn't bother me that much. What bothered me was what you called me and how you grabbed me." I nodded slightly to her; I understood what she was saying. I didn't really give it much thought about how I had grabbed her or what I had called her, I really had no business liking her the way I do.

"I'm sorry for grabbing your hand that way, and for calling you infidel. You aren't one...you mean so much to me..." she gave me a surprised look, and the last sentence I said had hit me; did I just tell her I cared about her? I quickly sat up, and sighed deeply. My glacial eyes searched the area as I tried hard to not look down at her. My polar eyes closed, and as I sat there thinking of what a dolt I really was, a light touch hit my arm. My arctic eyes snapped open, and I quickly looked down at her. She smiled up at me and her eyes had this light sparkle in them, even if she was tired, she looked so happy and bright.

"Tala, we're friends, of course you care about me. I forgive you, just, don't make it a habit, it brings up...memories better left buried." I nodded to her, and a small smile spread across my mouth. She forgave me, and she still had no idea how I felt, which may or may not be a good thing. I slowly got back down into the water, and she sat up to stare at me with her now deep cobalt blue eyes.

"I'm going to tow you back, we're both wet, so we should head back to the hotel and change, is that alright?" She nodded to me, and I began to bring her back to the shore line. 'I think she should also get some rest after that...' The water swirled around me, as I brought her back to land.

Once we made it back to the shore line, she fell back on her butt, and sat there for a little while. I calmly sat beside her and waited for her to be ready to walk back to the hotel. As I waited for her, I scanned the banks of it and my eyes set upon her 'blade. I promptly looked back at her, and she was still sitting there, so I got to my feet, and wandered down to where it was. I attentively picked it up, and gazed down at it in my palm; it was very beautiful. The beyblade was black and silver and her bit beast tab had her black and silver dragon on it.

I wandered back over to her, and by now, she was standing up.

Kiko's POV

He stood before me, holding my beyblade in his rather large hands. I smiled softly at him, and walked over to retrieve my 'blade. He gave it to me, and I quickly slipped it into my pocket. He then gently took my arm, and led me back to the entrance.

"Should we tell the others?" He glanced down at me, and shook his head,

"They'll figure it out eventually," he said to me softly. I nodded up at him slightly, and followed him down the alley way quietly. This time, the quiet wasn't awkward or filled with anger and confusion, it felt right to be walking beside him, even if we were both wet. He had let go of my arm by now, and we were now walking down the side walk in the direction of the hotel. We passed many people, but it felt as if we were the only two walking on the streets of Tokyo, Japan.

As my eyes trailed up towards his face, and for the first time, I saw his eyes were happy and clear, his hair might have been down and was now surrounding his pale Russian face, but he seemed calm and actually happy about living for once. He seemed more attracting now then he had ever appeared before.

At the Hotel

We calmly entered the hotel lobby, and for some reason, the lady behind the desk that gave people their keys was motioning for us to go over to her. Tala sighed tiredly, and walked over towards her. He didn't look calm and relaxed anymore; he had his mask on so he appeared stern, and hostile. The lady had fear in her large chocolate brown eyes, and she couldn't lift her eyes from our forms. I rolled my eyes at her in an irritated way, Tala just 'hn'ed again.

"Mr. V-Valkov, a p-package came f-for y-you and y-your t-team t-today...J-just let me f-find it," she stuttered as she rummaged around all of the papers and crud on her desk. We waited calmly, and kept all of our insults on hold for her for the current moment. She had large black glasses on, and chocolate brown hair to match her eyes. Her nails were painted a light pink color, and she wore a little make up. Her body was shaking slightly; my guess was that she was afraid of us or something. "Ah, f-found it, p-p-please excuse the w-wait, s-s-sir, h-have a g-good d-d-day." We nodded to her, and took the package. We then quickly walked away and up to our hotel room.

Once we were in our room, Tala threw the rather light, brown paper package, and wandered over to his bed. I glanced at it, and then walked over to where my bed was. I threw all of my suit cases' contents out and quickly threw together an outfit. It consisted of black jeans that had been bleached on the thighs and were ripped at the bottom. My shirt was black with a chain going across it; from my shoulder to where the bottom of it was; the shirt was also long sleeved with a small line cut out of each sleeve from the shoulder to the cuff of it that had been connected together by black, thick stitching. I wandered back out, and Tala was wearing the same outfit; apparently he had more then one of the same things. Except, he didn't have his jacket on, he just had his tight, long sleeved, black shirt on with the wider collar.

He nodded to me, and I snapped out of my staring at him; he was so hot! We both wandered over to the table again, and we both sat down opposite each other. Eventually, after staring at the package for a while, we finally decided to open it.

The brown packaging came off easily, and the stamp on it said that it came from Moscow, Russia. Once we tore away the outside layer, we grew shocked to its contents. HOMEWORK and lots of it! Apparently, Mr. Dickenson had our schools mail our homework with the notes and such for each individual. Each had their own little folder type thing with their name on it in bold Russian type. Oddly enough, my homework/note pile was also in Russian, and a short letter was posted onto it, in Russian! I nudged Tala's side gently, and he glanced over towards me with now lifeless polar eyes (he hates homework!). "Tala kun, can you translate this letter for me?" He nodded, and took the letter from me in his black leather gloved hands. I watched as his wondrous eyes scanned the written words, and then he sighed and placed the letter back down. He quietly reached up to the bride of his nose, and rubbed it as if it was confusing. He quietly turned back to me, and told me what it said,

"It basically says that you're now in my grade at my school, just because we can do our homework together and I can help you with it, too." I made a slightly disgusted face, and he just smirked slightly. After a few more silent minutes, he reached inside the package of doom, and brought out both of our homework piles. He quietly handed it to me, and placed his on the kitchen counter by the stove. "I'm just going to put their crap on the counter, alright?" I nodded, and without hesitation, he picked it all up, and threw it onto the counter; note to self, don't leave the mail to Tala alone.

He then picked his pile up, and slammed it onto the table. I was already sitting in the chair by the table, and had placed my homework around my side of it. "I think we should do it now, if that is alright with you," he nodded, and he roughly placed his around his side of the table, and then he rummaged around to sort out the notes from the homework. I copied him, and soon I had a giant pile of notes, and a semi small pile of homework; I honestly got more in Canada.

"Okay, I think we should start off with grammar, or English, the same thing really, so that you have a better understanding of the language." I nodded, and copied him as he took out the English work. The work was written in Russian, but it was nice and neat. The paper had little symbols at the top at the corners. I glanced up at him as he read the paper with his wintery colored eyes; they were so superlative. "Hn, I'll help you with this," he replied nonchalantly. Then, just as casually, he moved closer to me, and moved all of my notes to the other side of the table. We were now side-by-side, and he was looming over me! I watched him keenly as he took up his pen, and motioned for me to do the same, which I did. I then stared at him as his hand moved elegantly across the line that indicated where to place your answer. I imitated him in black ink, and in no time, we were done. I smiled up at him as he reached out to his homework pile, and retrieved more of the hated thing. He then glanced over at me, saw me gawking, and then reached across me to get the same worksheet so that I could copy him.

We did that for a while, and in around an hour, we were done. His hair looked normal now, but mine was still a little wet; how I hated it! "Okay, now we're done," he sighed and told me. His subzero eyes trailed up to where the clock was, and he then decided, "it's too late to train now, I guess we can stay home and wait for them," I nodded to him and smiled. His voice was accented beautifully, not too much, and not too little. His eyes were able to draw you into them, and then you'd get lost in them. His body was toned just right, and his hair was so stunning. He truly was, the most handsome man I had ever laid my eyes upon.

He eventually felt my gaze upon him, and he quickly turned to me, and then I switched my gaze down and blushed lightly. To think that this magnificently attractive man was my team captain, and my friend. "Kiko chan, are you okay?" I nodded and remained looking down and playing with the many silver rings on all of my fingers. He sighed, and leaned back in his chair; the chairs were really uncomfortable. "Kiko chan, you can look at me, it's not like I'd hit you for it." His voice sounded so bored, but when his wintry eyes met my own, he seemed alive and happy to be it.

I nodded and smiled up at him. He nodded in return, and returned his gaze to watching the kitchen in a bored like expression. "I-I'm going to go take a shower, okay, Kiko chan?" I blushed and nodded to him, and of course he noticed, in which he raised a single red eyebrow. I smiled self-consciously, and he got up and walked over to his bed. He kneeled down to it, and rummaged around underneath to bring out his clothes. I watched as he did this, he really liked orderly neatness didn't he. I quickly brought my gaze away when he stood back up and wandered over to the bathroom. I kept my eyes glued to my lap, and just listened to the sound of the door locking, and then the faint hum of the water hitting the bottom of the shower.

I ignored everything else, because it was making me feel very awkward. In a few minutes of just quietly sitting there, I sighed and got up to watch the TV. As I sat there flicking through the various channels, I began thinking about my friends, and if they would forgive me for the previous day's events. I doubted it, I mean; they didn't even know why I was angry, which is quite normal for them. They didn't know that I was only angry because they expected the worst of Tala, without even knowing that much about him. They wanted to protect me from everything, but in truth, some things are better left walked alone. I sighed, and put down the remote, and began staring blankly up towards the vent where Kiyoko had been the other day, how I missed her presence.

'I got angry because, I thought that if they expected the worst from him, and they think that they know all about him, what would they do if they knew everything about me? Would they expect the worst from me? Would they still love me and treat me the same way? Sometimes, they really need to realize that sometimes, all I need is an ear to listen, and not a fist to punch with. I don't need their 'words of wisdom' to bail me out of things, I need them to listen to me, and not say anything. I need them to tell me that they understand, and that they know what I'm going through. Sometimes I need a kick in the butt and to be just told frankly what I'm doing wrong, or what I should be doing. And other times, all I need is an ear to listen to me. I want to be asked, not told. I want to be able to open myself up to them my own pace, not theirs. If they truly loved me, then they'd wait for me, even if it takes 5 years for me to open up, if they loved me, they'd wait those 5 years, and just listen to me. Yeah, they can yell at me to open up more, but all they'll succeed in doing is pushing me away more. Yeah, they tell me they love me in sentences that have no meaning. We'd be talking about my beyblade match, and then they'd say 'I love you', and, I don't enjoy that. It's the type of random thing that gets repetitive, like those words are just words, that they have no meaning anymore. But, would they understand that when I'm ranting and yelling, that they can't just say 'I love you' or 'I care about you' and hope that it makes it go away. It can't, they need to understand, that love can't take everything away.'

AN: This last chapter was slow, I'm sorry! It was also short, I'm sorry for that too! The Russian: "Tala, нам нужно натренировать, одобренн? Вы можете общаться с вашими… эмоциональными проблемами более поздно!" It means: 'Tala, we need to train, okay? You can deal with your...emotional problems later!' Heh, I am good. So, review me please! And the next chapter should be coming up soon! Thank you all for reading it thus far!


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter thirty two: Fight after affects

**Last Time:**

We'd be talking about my beyblade match, and then they'd say 'I love you', and, I don't enjoy that. It's the type of random thing that gets repetitive, like those words are just words, that they have no meaning anymore. But, would they understand that when I'm ranting and yelling, that they can't just say 'I love you' or 'I care about you' and hope that it makes it go away. It can't, they need to understand, that love can't take everything away.'

**Continue Story: **

I closed my eyes calmly, and got up from the black leather couch. 'I need to go and apologize to them, and explain everything to them once more.' I sighed, and walked back into the kitchen. I quietly walked into it, and then opened one of the nearby drawers. This seemed so hopeless, like they'd listen to me, but it doesn't matter now, all I have to do is try. I quickly found a piece of paper and a pen, and began writing a short note to Tala telling him that I was going to be back later, and was going to apologize to my friends, well, not my friends, my best friends.

I calmly placed the note on the table, and threw my black and silver combat boots on. I sighed as I did up the straps, and rested my head against my knees. My life just seemed so dull without anyone else around. I coughed lightly, and covered my mouth politely. I then calmly got up to my normal height, and opened the door to enter the hallway. Once the door closed behind me, all of my strength left, and I grew tense and nerved. I now had to be on full alert, ready for anything to jump out at me and harm me. I breathed in a few short breaths and began searching for my friends. My memories seemed to be erased of where their rooms were, so I had to go down to the lobby, and ask where they were located.

My footsteps were echoing down the hallway, and the sound only increased when I reached the lobby. My mind was clouded, and I felt weary and uncertain. I stopped mid-way down the stairs, and realized that I wasn't sorry for what I did. I wasn't sorry for what I said. I may have felt bad, but that was only due to my rage in itself, it wasn't even me that had been treated wrongly. I quietly leaned against the walls of the stair case and remembered all of the words screamed at the three some. Why did it bother me so? I wasn't the one in the wrong, it was their fault! But, would they even apologize? Would they even listen to me if I explained it to them? Or would they just blow it off, and forget about what I said the next day…? I shook my head, and closed my eyes. My bangs feel over my face as I thought about what to do…My body was trembling slightly, and my arms were crossed over my chest.

As my mind was suddenly being sucked into a black hole of death, I felt a slight touch on my shoulder. That touch was the only thing I needed to wake me from the never ending nightmare. I jolted, and my head shot back up to face the onlooker that dared to touch me. But, to my surprise, my friends were standing there; Kiyoko was the one who grabbed me. My eyes grew wider then before, and I attempted to step back, but the wall of the hallway stopped me from getting any farther away from them.

Kiyoko attentively took her hand back after seeing my reaction from her gentle touch. "Kiko chan…we need to talk…please…" I nodded shyly, and quietly moved around them. I was now standing at the top step, staring down at them with my cold hard gaze. Why were they here, why now when all that I wanted was them? I wanted them to be here for me, and now they're here, but at the same time, I don't want them near me when I'm in this mood. Right now, I can harm them, make them fall, make them cry; make them mad, they didn't need this from me, not right now, and not ever.

(Remember, Kat was changed to Rin, heh.)

"What do you all want with me now, haven't you done enough harm?" Kiyoko looked hurt by that, which gave me even more guilt then I had ever imagined possible. She sighed to me, and her cat ears drooped. I sighed in return as my gaze looked upon them all: Rin looked angry and cold and Marissa looked kind of angry and hurt.

Rin sighed lowly, and closed her vibrantly cold eyes. I waited calmly, expecting the words filled with venom to slice through me easily; they usually do. But, nothing came, not the wise words of wisdom from Kiyoko, not the venom from Marissa or from Rin; the silence from them was starting to worry me. I shifted uneasily in my stance; their silence was really beginning to worry me.

Tala's POV

I sighed deeply as my mind recollected all of the morning's events. The water was still cascading over my half naked body. I honestly didn't feel like taking a full shower, I just wanted to have her believe that I was. My polar eyes had long since closed as the soft sound of the door closing reached my ears. She was gone; I didn't have to stand here any longer with just my ivory, tangerine and peacock blue pants on. My ebony colored, long sleeved shirt remained on the floor, along with my white socks, and black gloves.

'I need to tell her...but would she even accept me as something more to her? I doubt that, I'm just a freakish mutant after all, she, on the other hand, is not, and probably wouldn't wish to be ostracized on my be-half.' My arctic orbs flickered open, and my face tilted up to the head of the shower. The water was spraying out and hitting my face in a random assortment of flecks. My body was completely drenched from the 'down pour', but it had been already from my little 'swim'.

'She scared me so badly, and then I just did her homework, I should have made her rest or something. All of the things I could have done to help her are just coming to me now; and yet another example of how self-centered and idiotic I was...or am.'

My hand quietly trailed up to the shower head, and circled it in an attempt to stop the flow of spray from showering down on me. I smiled very faintly to myself upon thinking about the first world championship the Tyson entered. When we met at the base of the Abbey, I never expected that he'd be the one to beat me; the little brat. I never anticipated the possibility that I could, one day, freeze most of the bey-dish in a sorrowful endeavour to defeat Granger baka. The water now running down my back could be frozen with just a little word to Wolborg, could she love a boy that could do that? Or would she always be in fear that one day he'd crack and suddenly freeze their house, or Japan.

I shook my head slightly, and leaned against the shower walls, my hand still cupping over the shower head. I needed to get out of the house, to get out of the shower. I needed a break in which no thoughts of her haunted me, but alas, even when she's far away from me, I still think of her. Even if I went to the far reaches of Russia, I'd still think of her. I removed my hand from the shower head calmly, and turned away from it all together. I attentively stepped out of the bath tub, and turned back around to bend down and turn the nozzle the opposite way so as to stop the water flow. I now leaned against the tub tiredly, why was today taking such a toll on me? I quickly dismissed the thought, knowing full well that being called 'team leader' meant more then just giving orders.

My polar ice eyes rested upon my black, long sleeved shirt that was now lying on the ground. "Hn, maybe I should just worry about my training for now...and just forget about my feelings for a while." I murmured softly to myself. It just didn't feel natural to have these feelings, instead of animosity. I exhaled, and bent down to retrieve my shirt. My hands were still slightly damp, so my shirt was going to have my hand prints on it. With little trouble, I threw my shirt on, and began the work of fixing my fiery red hair. It was down all the way now, so it reached my shoulders. I exhaled once more, and felt slightly defeated by it; but at least it wasn't as long as that golden eyed neko's was, the most odd things happen to men when their forced out of the community. My hair was just unruly and such, so it definitely showed that I didn't regularly comb my hair.

After a few more moments, I gave up; it was useless to me anyways. 'But, even if it is useless to me...what would she think about it?' With a small disagreement in my head, I decided to try it again. I roughly ran my fingers through my scarlet hair. I then started placing all of my hair in an upwards motion; I failed miserably. I growled through clenched teeth, was this all really worth it? Yes, it was worth it, but why would she care anyways? I stopped trying to fix my blood red hair, and spent the rest of my time in the bathroom, arguing with myself.

Kiko's POV

My whole body shook with the shock of the words that had spilled from my mouth, and from the rage that I had just endured. I didn't know why I had said those things, but I did know that my words had cut through them sharply. Kiyoko looked hurt, taken aback, annoyed, and had an air of wanting to help me lessen my anger. Rin looked as if she were going to beat the words that she tried to place on my heart into me, she looked angry as well. Marissa also looked angry, irritated, and hurt. But, did they even think about what I had been going through at the time when I had yelled at them last? But, I guess I didn't give them the chance to think either, and I highly doubt that they know why I was livid.

My shaking hand took the door knob tightly, and I quietly stepped into the room. I gently closed the door behind me, and wandered farther into the room. I didn't hear the shower running anymore, so I took it that he was done in the shower, but when I scanned the room quietly, I didn't see him. 'Maybe he left to go training again, and this time he won't be interrupted.' I sighed to myself slowly, and went over to the couch. I flopped down onto the leathery surface, and brought my knees up to my chest. I gently rested my chin on top of my knees, and closed my arctic eyes. My thin arms wrapped around my legs tightly, and I thought sullenly about the words spoken to them all. 'Why did I say that? It wasn't needed, I should have just forgiven them...but I guess...the lessen is more likely learned and remembered if getting the solution is tough.' Clear tears started to well up at the corners of my eyes, and I sniffed slightly as all of the words I had yelled at them came flooding back in masses.

I was very unaware of Tala's presence that lingered in the door way of the open bathroom. My tears started coming out in a steady stream, even if it was a slow flood. Everything that happened remained with me, and everything that could have been done instead hit me like a sack of bricks.

As I sat there shivering and crying, a strong hand gently came down on my arm. I sniffed, and cautiously looked up into Tala's icy eyes. They seemed to have much worry within them, but why was he worried, "Kiko chan, why are you crying?" I quietly turned away from him and wiped my tears away from his view, but, it didn't help me any. I closed my eyes, and continued my teary actions. He didn't need to see me like this; it was such a weakness in both of our eyes.

I felt his hand slip from my arm, and thought that he had decided to leave me; that probably wouldn't help me much either. In the midst of my own turmoil, I failed to notice that he only walked around the couch, and walked over to the kitchen. He then came back, without my noticing, and kneeled by where my head was. He then gently wrapped his strong arms around my thin and now shivering shoulders. I quickly glanced up at him, and realized that he had only gotten the box of Kleenex, and was now kneeling beside me, and holding me tightly.

"T-Tala kun..." That was all I had managed to say before I buried my face in his chest in a last attempt to feel better. I half expected him to move away from me a little bit when I did this, but instead, he brought my closer like what he had done that morning. I still shook though, but, he kept me warm now. I wept into his shoulder and clung onto his shirt tightly with both hands. He held me close to him, and waited almost silently for me to calm down again. My eyes were closed, but I could still tell that something about his appearance was different then what he looked like this morning.

After a few minutes, I had ceased crying into his shoulder heavily, and now only wept silently. He slowly took his arms away from my body, and leaned back to look at my face. He studied me for a while, and then he lightly brushed away some of my tears. I smiled slightly to him, and remained silent. "Th-thank you Tala kun," he nodded to me, and remained staring at me softly. I sniffed, and looked down to the ground. I sighed slightly, and began telling him what happened. By the end of it, I grew teary eyed again, and he had to hold me once more. He gently rubbed my back in small circles, and told me comforting things that were mumbled and hard to understand through my tears.

"Kiko chan...Just calm down...it'll be alright, I know it will. Your friends seem understanding and willing to forgive, I'm positive that they will forgive you. They love you so much, Kiko chan, just calm down, and get a hold of your anger. They'll wait for you, and forgive you quickly, I know they will." His voice was soft and filled with much care. I nodded slightly, but it didn't stop my tears from falling. He comforted me until my crying ceased. "It's okay, Kiko chan..." I nodded and smiled to him; he really was a good listener.

"Tala kun...I-I...please don't think me as weak...please-"He cut me off by handing me the box of Kleenex, in which I used even if it was embarrassing.

"Kiko chan, I know you're not weak, you don't have to worry about that," I smiled even more, and blew my nose with a faint blush. He returned the faint smile, and got up from the floor. My icicle like gaze followed him, and then I realized that his hair was still down. I cocked my head slightly, and gently reached out to grab his wrist. He glanced down at me again, and quietly slumped down to where he could kind of be eye-to-eye with me.

"Your hair is down; do you...need help with it?" He gave me a slightly surprised look, and then calmed down from the outlandishness of the question. His crystalline eyes were directed right at me, it felt as if he were piercing me with the daggers from his eyes. He gave me a nod to my question, and he turned his back to me. I carefully began pulling small sections of his crimson hair upwards. His hair was soft, almost like silk. It was thick, as well. It didn't seem like it had been combed a lot though, which somewhat surprised me; I mean, if it feels so good, then he must wash it a lot, but then, why not comb it?

It took me a t least 15 minutes to make his hair stick up again; it was fun to do so. "There, now it sticks up just like before!" I said almost too cheerfully. He turned to glance at me with a cocked eyebrow. 'He must think I'm some sort of retard, oh well, I know I act like one sometimes.' I grinned childishly, and took it upon myself to tug on his bangs. The two strands of hair sticking out at the front of him was enjoyable to play with, not that he enjoyed it though.

I let his bangs go after he turned to me and raised an eyebrow once more. My face flushed almost immediately, and then I dropped his bangs. I felt like such an idiot, I mean, 2 year olds play with other people's hair like that, not a thing a 16 year old should do. I breathed heavily when our eyes met simultaneously, he seemed so calm and so sure of himself, and I just seemed like a dazed little kid. He could never like me...he could never love me... and that part of my emotions scared me sometimes, I had no business liking him...The air between us wasn't indignant or anything, it was just calm, and it felt as if we could stay like that till we turned 96. But, we were interrupted, which might have been a good thing, by the slamming of the door, and the stomping of heavy boots. Both of our heads moved to watch as Bryan, Spencer, and Ian walked in.

Bryan glanced at us, nodded, and then he walked into the bathroom. We were left with Spencer and Ian. They stood by the doorway in an awkward sort of way, and then they slowly shuffled over to us, still rather awkwardly. "Um, Kiko chan, are you okay now? We saw you guys walk out, and you were both wet, so, I was just wondering...if you were fine..." Ian's small voice piped up. His face was straight up when he attempted to look up at us. The fact that he was so short that he needed to look straight up at us was almost laughable.

I nodded to the imp below me, and a childish smile spread across my lips. He returned with a devious sort of smile, and then we began laughing awkwardly. While Ian and I were busy with that, Spencer and Tala were watching us keenly, and keeping an open ear for Bryan's return. Suddenly, in the midst of our odd laughter, an ear piercing scream reverberated to our room from the bathroom. Ian and I stopped, and we all turned our heads to stare in the direction of the ugly bathroom. We waited for what seemed like half an hour, but, it was only around ten minutes. Our long wait was not in vain though, for Bryan came storming out of the bathroom with a cylinder of shaving cream. 'Why does he have that? Was he shaving?! What the crap...well, it would make sense, he is 19 after all.'

"What's wrong now, Bryan...did it not taste good?" Tala sneered. 'Why did he just say that?' Bryan glared at him, and grumbled something in low Russian that made Tala's icicle like eyes narrow, Spencer just shook his head, and Ian's eyes widened; I'm guessing whatever it was wasn't very nice.

"No, we're out...and I checked the other drawers...we are completely empty...which means we have to go shopping..." He glared at Tala more as he said this, and then the air in the room grew tense. Ian began poking his fingers together. I sighed slightly, and felt unbelievably awkward; who knew shaving cream could do that. "We're also out of food..."he continued "So, when are we leaving...?" I managed to hold in my laughter that was just dying to come out. It seemed so unorthodox to me; just imagining them walking through a grocery store, pulling a silver shopping cart behind them, was beyond my maturity level.

Tala shrugged to the question summoned by Bryan. "I guess we could go...right now..." Tala seemed vaguely uncertain about it; did they normally have someone else do their shopping for them? Well, I guess that would be the reason why Bryan wears a mustard colored shirt. Tala's subzero eyes wandered over to me, and I calmly glanced over at him. He acted as if he wanted an answer from me, but I honestly didn't want to give a reply for something I had no control over. A great sigh parted from Tala's lips, and then he got up from the unsightly floor. Everyone watched him intently as he made his way over to his bed, and bent down to pull on his combat boots. 'I guess we're leaving then...how...intriguing,' I thought sombrely.

"Okay, are you coming with us?" He asked me as he walked back over to us. I shrugged slightly, and began playing with a string that was coming off of my pants.

"Only if you _want_ me to come," I said very casually. Tala sighed, and asked me again, but this time when I gave him the same answer, I had a teasing little smirk plastered on my face, and I drawled out the word 'want'. Bryan rolled his teal eyes, and sighed at the same time that Tala exhaled. They immediately glared over at each other; did they have a fight or something? Ian wandered over to the other side of the couch, and jumped up onto the couch to sit with me.

"I want you to come, they're no fun." I raised an eyebrow, and he laughed as he received a swat from Spencer's big hand, "hey, don't hit me! Besides, it is true, you guys don't talk or anything and you flip a coin to see who's going inside the store," he received another hit to the head.

"Okay...fine...I'll come, happy now, imp?" He glowered up at me, and made an odd almost hissing sound. One of my dark brown eyebrows rose as I stood up from the couch. He smirked, and ran over to the door. I, on the other hand, wandered back to my side of the hotel room, and came back with my black and silver iron toed shoes. My black pant leg was rolled over my shoes, so unless you could see the outline of the shoes from my pants, my boots were almost un-noticeable. They were already out in the hallway, and waiting for me quietly. I closed the door behind me, and took my place in line beside Tala.

We then wandered down the hallway and down to the lobby with the stuttering girl. She kept on watching us as we passed by, she was so transfixed by us (either by fear or wonder I don't honestly care) that I wanted to go over to her, and 'flip her the bird' just to make her faint! However, I kept my calm facade, and ignored her till we were outside.

We strode down the sidewalk with a cold, emotionless expression pasted onto our faces. The people we passed often gave us surprised stares or glances, but we were used to these by now, we did get them everywhere we went. The sun was still out in the pale blue sky, and stood out among all of the other pale colors. We continued walking till we came to Walmart (I do not own this store!). I never expected them to go to this place, I mean, this is where normal people shop; not Russians that carry guns everywhere with them! I stood in the front of it, gawking up at the blue and white letters. I was still in denial that Neoborg would even think about coming here, to this place, filled with lots of people. Eventually, after a few minutes of pointlessly staring with my mouth agape, Tala gently nudged me, and when no response came from my soon to be comatose mind, he lightly took my thin arm, and led me inside the crowded building.

It wasn't as busy was it was on Saturday's, but it was still jam-packed with people. My team captain quickly led me by the greeter, and directed me towards the hygiene area. The area disturbed me greatly, there were so many...awkward items on the shelves, such as deodorant (yes, I do find the product awkward and I don't really know why). Bryan, Spencer, and Ian were already there, they were arguing about the kind of shaving cream, which I also found awkward. "Um, can we just...um...hurry?" My face was flushed to a deep ruby color. Ian began to snicker, in which I narrowed my polar eyes, and then Bryan smacked him upside the head.

"Yeah, sure, we can hurry," came his reply. I smirked, and stuck my tongue out at Ian, his smug little grin quickly disappearing from his face. I stood there nervously while they continued their pointless bickering about shaving cream...I rolled my eyes when they came back from the aisle of hygiene; did they really think that arguing even more in loud Russian meant 'hurry'? Ha, it was far from the definition of the word. My hands were freezing even though we were in a large store with a heating system. I was freezing, and my team noticed almost right-away. "Kiko chan...Are you...cold?" Tala kun asked almost hesitantly. I nodded to him, and he exhaled lowly, so that only we could hear him. We stood there in the aisle that connected all of the sub-aisles together (the ones with the items/products in them sub-aisles). "You can borrow...my jacket...for now," Tala kun said, I quickly glanced up at him with my arctic gaze; did he mean it? I smiled gratefully, and nodded to him. He casually began slipping his arms out of the sleeves of his heavy jacket, and handed it over to me. I honestly didn't notice that he had it on before; he must have gotten it when he grabbed his boots. It was HUGE on me; it kind of reminded me of a penguin. However, it also kept me warm immensely, and for that, I was happy for.

We continued walking, and then we all lined up to pay for the item(s). I calmly waited in the line up beside Tala. The people in front of us had a lot of groceries, so it took an incalculably long time to get through. Eventually, I got bored, so my subzero eyes wandered over towards the various magazines that had the latest gossip. As we moved more into the line, my eyes trailed over the other magazines that we passed. Some of the stuff on the covers were slightly ominous to me, but then again, I get traumatized easily. In a few very long minutes, we were finally allowed to pay, and leave the ghastly place.

The sun was still high in the sky, so I assumed that it was only a few minutes past 12:00, but it really was 4:27. I calmly walked beside Tala with his snow white, tangerine, and brilliant blue jacket. I sighed when we entered yet another grocery store, but this time, it took an hour for us to be able to leave the disgusting building filled with food that will just go to waste in a few months.

-Some where else with Boris-

"Do you brats remember the plan? Or do I have to explain it to you idiots again?!" Boris' rough voice ripped through their hearts easily. They were broken, but they had no one there to mend them. They all stood in a straight line with their backs straight and cold expressions written on their faces. But, deep inside of them all, in the place where they were allowed feeling, they felt sincerely afraid of the man that took care of them when they were younger, and now the man that beats them when they do something wrong.

The older male in front of them sighed, and brought his hand up to his forehead to rub his temple. "Okay, fine, I'll explain it again to you dolts!" He brought out his long pointer stick, and hit it against a red blue print with various directions on it. "You are to beat Neoborg, White Tiger X, and the G Revolutions. We have data on all of the people on their teams, and we need them all back into the Abbey for a while so that we can win the championship! The only way to defeat Kiko Wieler from Neoborg is to kidnap her, bring her here, make sure her team follows, and then tell her how we got her beyblade statistics." A girl with silver hair raised her hand, in which the old fart acknowledged her, "yes, what is it, Rika?"

"How did we get her statistics anyways, Balkov sir?" Her voice was quavering with the fear that he might hit her again, the fear that he might make her go flying back into the brick wall behind her. But, he only smiled at the frail creature in front of him. He began walking towards her, and roughly threw her against the brick wall behind the line-up of slaves.

"We did it by-"

He whispered the last few words of his sentence into her ear. Once he was done, her pupils had shrunk immensely, and her whole body shook vigorously. A small, sinister smile broke out upon his pale, ghostly lips as he turned his back to her and the rest of the team. "I expect you to carry out the mission very soon...failure is NOT an option, you all know what happened to Viridian when he disappointed me..." with those last words to keep them company, he left them as thunderously and as hated as he had came.

Kiko's POV

'Why did I fight that Viridian fellow anyways? I mean, what was his purpose...?' I clouded my mind with such questions for a while as I completely ignored Ian's bickering with himself. Spencer was carrying the white bags from the various stores we had visited. Tala was calmly walking beside me...but when I glanced up at his normally almost unemotional eyes, they seemed like an ice storm. His eyes were brimming with something, and I didn't know what. This fact scared me, and his facade was even more nerving. It made my skin crawl, and made my confidence drop rapidly. 'Why does he seem to think that just because you're calm on the outside, doesn't mean that your eyes won't let your lie succeed. Why does he think that if he's emotionless, that he's somehow getting closer to me?'

AN: This chapter is really slow, and I'm very sorry for the lateness of this chapter, but I got major writer's block. The only reason why I kind of got over it was because one of my best friends gave me an idea. Hopefully, in the next chapter, I can go into the tournament, YEAH ME!! However, that one will be late, I can guarantee you that. It's not that I'm loosing interest, it's only because I want to gather my thoughts and make this story awesome, you know? O.o' Innocent by Our Lady Peace (not mine) is in the background, I love that song! If only it still came on the radio...yes... Man, I cannot wait for March, Naruto Shippuuden comes out! I cannot wait to stare at Kazekage Gaara, or Pein! laughs Well, please review me! REVIEW ME PLEASE!


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter thirty three: Stay

**Last Time**

'Why did I fight that Viridian fellow anyways? I mean, what was his purpose...?' I clouded my mind with such questions for a while as I completely ignored Ian's bickering with himself. Spencer was carrying the white bags from the various stores we had visited. Tala was calmly walking beside me...but when I glanced up at his normally almost unemotional eyes, they seemed like an ice storm. His eyes were brimming with something, and I didn't know what. This fact scared me, and his facade was even more nerving. It made my skin crawl, and made my confidence drop rapidly. 'Why does he seem to think that just because you're calm on the outside, doesn't mean that your eyes won't let your lie succeed. Why does he think that if he's emotionless, that he's somehow getting closer to me?'

**Continued Story**

I never knew why I stayed on this team, but I did know why I joined. It was selfish of me, and quite redundant on my part. But, the reason why I stayed on it now, was because of them; they had something that I never had, and greatly wanted. They had an understanding of pain and sorrow. They were aware of their flaws and their strong suits. They knew of MY strengths, my weaknesses, my fears, and my lies. My team never forsake me, and they said that they never would. My own family left me behind...maybe I wasn't good enough for them, but I'm good enough for this team, and that's all that I need right now.

The strong wind whipped around my thin frame, and made me shudder. My bangs shadowed over my translucent, pale colored eyes. I slowly allowed my thoughts to consume me, and a new, almost eerily quiet feeling over came me. My eyes closed tiredly, and in a moment, they re-opened just as quietly as they had shut. My medium length, dark brown hair transformed into brilliant silver. It grew longer, and even silkier. It rested against my small shoulders, and every now and then, a few wisps of my hair came out and whispered within the air. Soon, everybody around me was stuck in this state of unconscious behaviour. Tala's unstable sanity was quickly waning, and for why, I had no idea of. Soon, everyone was a mirror image of our team captain, cold and almost to the breaking point. A shiver ran up my spine as the coldness of the surrounding air and the taciturnity of everyone else seeped into my insentient mind.

The cold still air remained as our shadows grew (insinuating that it's getting later at night). Once we had reached our hotel room, it was almost like we were dead. I almost immediately walked over to my side of our empty room, and crashed onto my mahogany bed. My dulled eyes remained shut as their faint voices filled this eerie quiet air. Nothing was heard except for they're words expressing their want to sleep; which they pretended to with their own reasons visible to only themselves. I sighed and rolled over onto my back, why did I suddenly feel so closed off and unwanted? An urge over came me, and blocked out any want to devour anything. I sat up on my bed, and reached down quickly to where I stashed my poetry and papers. I settled myself, and began to write:

_'Leave, you have encroached me;_

_Your deceit shall not haunt me anymore;_

_I shall wreck in this darkness alone;_

_None shall pass through these walls filled with detest;_

_I am unfeeling because of the likes of you!_

_Your haughtiness was my undoing;_

_Leave, get out, you don't belong here;_

_My doubts had been right;_

_These lonely nights are now my own!_

_While you bath in your lies;_

_Don't you come near me __again;_

_As my diminutive sanity may fall;_

_I am diminishing slowly;_

_But, I know that it won't be long;_

_Before I stop vanishing into the night.'_

I replaced my pencil, and closed my translucent eyes. When I re-opened them, a new light of anger and determination quenched me. Just because my family hates me, doesn't mean that they'll hold me down! I calmly began to get up from my bed; I needed to find my friends. I slowly crept into the boys' room, and cautiously wandered out into the bleached hallway. I exhaled, and began my search.

In 30 minutes, I was able to bump into Zeo and his friend, Gordo, both of which had no idea where my friends were. I calmly began to search more, but my hopefulness was failing; what if I couldn't find them till the tournament? Oh, no; the tournament! It starts in a few days, really only two. This is bad, this isn't what I wanted; what will it be like? Will it be like the Canadian ones? Or, will it be somehow, worse? I tried desperately to shake off the feeling of uncertainty, but the only thing I gained was more insecurity. My hair had returned to its regular black, and my eyes had returned to the same color as well. In a few more minutes, the stress had taken its toll, and I had to rest against the wall. Why did I have to stress out so much about the little things? It wasn't as if they were worth worrying about; I just didn't have enough security to not feel this rising anxiety.

My breathing came out in short; quick breaths, and soon my hands were shaking beside me. My legs abruptly gave way, and I collapsed onto the gross floor. My eyes were closed, and sweat came down from my forehead; what if everything went totally wrong? What if for some reason, I failed them, and then they didn't want anything to do with me? My throat felt the burning tinge of bile begin to come up from my stomach, but I forced it back down with the fear that somebody would see me puke. Why did I have to worry and think about every little thing that could go wrong? Why did I have to be like this? And for the first time in a long while, I wished that I hadn't met them, Neoborg. I laid down onto the floor, and waited till I could shake this feeling; but only succeeded in making my eyes drop closed, and drifting off into a world of turmoil.

An hour or so later

I slipped out of my dream land, and calmly took in my surroundings. It looked a lot like my hotel room, but it was somehow different. 'How did they find me? It was probably Tala again, but, you never know.' I slowly sat up from the mocha colored couch. Wait, mocha? My couch wasn't that color. Where am I?

Fear consumed me as I scanned the area with my keen icicle like eyes. They finally rested on somebody in the room; it looked as if he might have been the only one in it. I cocked my head in confusion, and it seemed to get his attention because he got up from where he was sitting, and walked towards me silently. A white scarf trailed behind his approaching steps, and his violet eyes seemed to see right through me as he finally stopped a few feet away. I blinked up at him, and waited for any kind of reason to why I was brought here.

"You shouldn't sleep in the middle of a hallway," he started. His amethyst eyes closed, and only re-opened when I asked him,

"Where am I, and who are you?" He retorted by giving me a look of disgust, as if I should have known who he was.

"You're in my hotel room, and I'm Kai Hiwatari. You're on team Neoborg, my old team; you should know who I am, baka," I glared up at him with great detest; how dare he talk to me like that! My anger was quickly rising, and only increased when he turned and let his white scarf hit me across the face (and it kind of hurt, what exactly was it made of?). I quickly got up from the couch, and crossed my arms across my chest, waiting for an apology from 'Mr. High and Mighty'. However, nothing came. He only walked towards the door, and opened it for me, insinuating that he wanted me gone right now. I growled lowly in my throat, and walked out into the hallway; if I ever see him in the tournament, I was definitely going to kill him. I stormed down the hallway, only to bump into the G-Revolutions. I stopped when they just gawked at me; did they think me as a ghost or something?

"You're up! We thought that you'd be sleeping until tomorrow," said a kid with a red and blue hat. I glared at him, and brushed past him rudely. "Hey, what was that for? We're the one's that helped you! A 'thank you' would have been nice!" I shrugged it off, what good could come to saying such a polite thing to a kid who was probably the weakest one here? And then I caught sight of Kyoko chan, in which I stopped in front of her, why was she here? Then, it came back to me; she was on this team. I stood there awkwardly in her presence, and waited for her to yell at me, to slap me, anything really. But, she smiled instead, and asked how I was. 'How I am? But, we just had a fight...she's cooking something up!'

"I'm fine, yourself?" she shrugged and nodded at me; what on earth was that supposed to mean? "Hey, I'll...see you later or something..." She watched me leave her team behind with keen purple eyes. 'Why didn't she react?' I thought sourly, 'I just yelled at her only a few hours ago...and instead of leaving me to sleep in the hallway, she took care of me, but why?' I was confused for most of the time I took walking back to my room. My hand was still as I opened the door. I was instantly welcomed by the silence of the place. 'Why must it be so eerie?' I quietly closed the door behind me, and shyly walked across the floor towards where all of the beds were. My polar eyes searched the area calmly, but found that only Tala was here. 'Where did the others go?' I dismissed the thoughts almost instantly, and decided to walk towards Tala, and find out if he was asleep or not.

My foot steps were quiet and inaudible as I approached his silent form. I calmly avoided all of the books lying over the floor beside his bed so that I didn't trip and fall over him. I calmly loomed over him, and attempted to see if his arctic eyes were closed; they weren't. Surprise lingered in my eyes as his black pupils moved upwards to stare back at me. His pale Russian face still had no emotion, which half scared me and half worried me. "I...I'm sorry," I said horridly and I tried to back away from him before he decided to get angry. However, I forgot about the clutter on the ground, and instead of backing away, I fell forward and onto him. I winced and waited for him to bolt up and yell at me for being such a dolt. Instead though, he just sat up calmly and continued to stare at me. A very heavy blush shadowed my face, and I bolted up to stand beside his bed frame again. I was quickly over whelmed by embarrassment; how did this happen? "Um, I'm REALLY sorry now. I forgot about the stuff on the floor...and...Um...I'm sorry," I stumbled over some of my words in my rush to get them out.

He sighed, and nodded to me. He had taken away his steady gaze, and remained sitting up, staring at his hands. I cocked my head slightly, and resumed standing there quietly. "Look, what do you want?" He snapped at me loudly. My body tensed as those un-wanted memories flooded me again; everyone snapped at me for being me.

"I...was just wondering...why you looked so sad..." I replied softly. My subzero eyes remained on him as he quietly returned his eyes to me. But, unbeknownst to him, I was trying desperately to fight back all of those memories that could prevent me from staying by his side.

"Why would you want to know that...?" came his reply.

"Because, I'm your friend, and I care about you,"

He stared down at his hands again, and then exhaled slowly. He slowly moved over, and I sat beside him shyly. "I just remembered that the tournament is in two days...it feels as if I haven't accomplished anything at all." His voice was so distant and broken. I nodded slightly, and looked down at my lap for a moment, and then returned my stare to him. "You wouldn't understand how much stress is placed upon me," he managed to mumble. He slowly looked away to where the light of the moon shone through the curtain to where my room was.

"Tala kun, I do know what stress you're under. Remember, I was captain of my own team, and we happened to win the Canadian tournament. Don't make the mistake that you're the only one under pressure!" My voice rose considerably, which made his eyes snap back to me. And once again, they came back to haunt me, those recollections from my past: why did everyone think that I don't understand? When really, I understand more then you could ever give me credit for.

In a very short amount of time, I had gotten angry at him, right when he didn't need it. 'Oh yeah, he'd be so into me. I mean, I have such a short fuse; I'm pathetic. 'I thought bitterly. My eyes seemed to reflect the anger I had bestowed upon myself, and he saw it all.

"Kiko chan...It's fine really. I forgot that you were a team captain; it just feels like I'm the only one out there with this much pressure. Maybe I'm not...cut out to be..." He didn't finish his sentence, but just looked away into the blackness of the room. 'Does he feel unworthy? Like, he shouldn't be the one to do this?'

I lightly placed my hand on his shoulder, and felt him tense underneath the, almost, unwanted touch. "Tala kun...you're an amazing captain...I'm glad to be on this team...with you as the leader. I know that it's stressful, and that if we lose the tournament, then it looks bad on you, but, I don't see it that way. Tala kun...I'm very happy to have met you..." my voice was quiet, and somewhat distant. The words spoken were just a slight image to what I felt about him. He was wonderful in so many ways...

He turned to face me again, with a new softness within his arctic eyes. I kept my gaze lowered, and began to quietly play with the folds of the blankets. 'I knew it sounded creepy! I mean, first I yelled at him, then I told him how...well...kind of...how wonderful he was to me. I doubt he'll believe me, I don't think even I would have believed me.' And thoughts like those swallowed me up entirely as I sat there beside the red headed Russian boy.

A light, almost hesitant touch woke me from my hateful words. My face instantly shot back towards him in complete surprise. 'What...he just...poked my shoulder...well more like grabbed my shoulder gently...but...wow...outlandish...' A faint blush creased my face, which made me turn again. "Thank you...Kiko chan..." I smiled gently, and returned my gaze back to him. His face looked more handsome in the moon light; was this creepy to say?

"Um, Tala kun...I'm sorry that I disappeared tonight...I felt stressed and such. So, I fell asleep in the hallway, and then woke up in some guys room...Kai Hiwatari's room...he said that he knew you...is that true?" I watched him intently as his arctic orbs suddenly transformed into an ice storm. His whole body grew tense, and an almost insane smile spread over his pale lips.

"Yeah, I know that traitor." His voice matched his unbalanced and twisted smirk. In a very short while, he returned to the calm Tala that everyone knows. "He was on our team last year, but he only joined to fight Tyson Granger san. He then joined Bega for a very short while; and then they were trespassers to the game. Once he was defeated by Brooklyn san, he went into a state of depression; in which he lost his 'blader spirit." Tala let a sigh escape his mouth before he continued, "then he came to see me in the hospital when I was in a coma from Garland, and there he gained back his will to 'blade'. Kai san then came back to the G-Revolutions, and defeated Brooklyn, but in the after affects of that battle, he was placed into the hospital for a while, and then managed to get someone, or himself, to fix Dranzer." I listened intently and did my best to act as if I understood everything that he was saying. "You need to worry about him...Kai Hiwatari san is a very skilled 'blader, and should be taken into your reverence." I knew what that meant.

"Okay, thank you Tala kun...but...you put honorific's at the end of everybody's name's, except for Garland's, why?"

"I did that because I do not respect him..." his voice was drenched in hate, so I decided to leave that subject be. We sat there for a few more minutes before the rest of Neoborg came back into the dark room. I quickly stood up again, only to fall back onto my face, but this time it was on the floor. Tala almost immediately looked over the side of his bed to see if I was alright; the others also did so. I quickly raised my head, and smiled sheepishly up at them. My black bangs hung in a messy fashion in front of my eyes, so I had to fix them a little to better see my beloved team members.

"Are you okay? That sure was an...Interesting fall..." came Ian's small impish voice. I smirked sarcastically, and swatted his head. Did he really think that I didn't know what that meant? He was calling me a klutz...I AM NOT A KLUTZ...well not totally.

"Yeah...I'm fine," Bryan's strong hand reached down to help me up, which I gratefully took. Once I was at my normal height, they stood back to let me pass. "I'm just going to go back to my side of the room...goodnight!" I replied brightly to them. I silently strode over back to my side of the hotel room, and pulled back the curtain.

I was almost instantly swallowed up by the glow of the midnight moon. Its brilliant white glow made me stop for a moment and gawk at its beauty; it's not every day that this kind of moon appears in front of your window. 'Why can't everything be this wonderful to stare at? Why can't everything give you this strange kind of peace?' I thought in awe and confusion. Within a 15 minute time limit, I snapped out of my state of admiration and mystification, and quickly got into bed. I stared up at the ceiling and let sleep take its toll on me, till I finally fell asleep.

-In the Morning-

I calmly rolled over in my sleep, and just as coolly I opened my subzero eyes. I laid there staring up at the ceiling, and waited for the sounds of my team that indicated that they were conscious. And then came the sound that I hadn't expected; the faint sound of something light landing on the veranda railing outside my window. I quickly shot my glance over towards my nightstand where the clock said in large, bold; red letters 5:15 am. 'No wonder their not up yet...why am I even up? Hey wait...then who is on my deck railing...?' I cautiously moved slowly to crouch by the bed side, and wait ever so quietly to see if they had any intention of entering my room.

In a short while, soft foot steps pattered up and down the veranda ground. 'So, they intend on staying...might as well beat them to the kill!' I gingerly ambled over to the window pane, and breathed heavily. 'Okay...it sounds as if their short or very skinny. Or they could be very skilled at ninja arts; either way, it might be in my best interests to back off for now...or to go get Tala kun...I'll go and get him if I need it.' I finally decided. I hurriedly threw open the window and leapt out to take on the enemy. The window made a clanging sound that meant that it couldn't be pushed away any more. The stillness of the morning air remained as I stood there with a very blank look pasted onto my face. I calmly kneeled down to pick up a small, furry, black cat. It squirmed slightly within my grasp as I gazed upon its innocence. "Kyoko chan...Is that you?" I asked in a very tired tone. The cat purred and rubbed its face on my hand. A small smile creased my face as I quietly let my friend go. Her violet eyes stared up at me with the endearment of a friend.

Kyoko quickly switched back to her human form, and sat cross-legged in front of me. I in turn did the same. "I'm so glad that your here...but...we just argued yesterday...so then, why are you here?" I asked her curiously. 'After what I said, it just doesn't seem right to me that she'd be at my door step; what game is she playing?' I quietly waited for her answer while thinking of all the possible reasons as to why she'd be here.

"I was worried over you, Kiko chan. I want to make amends for what ever fault I have made against you," her voice was so soft and sincere; it made me want to forgive her right away. I hid my emotions and remained cold and unfeeling.

"I'm fine...but I guess I was just...angry about how you guys had treated my team captain," she nodded in agreement, and waited for me to continue, "I felt that if you knew certain parts of me, too, that you wouldn't accept me and treat me like how you treated him..." I let my voice trail off from there.

We sat there in complete silence for a long while till she broke it once more. "I never meant anything by it, Diamond, please tell me when you feel that way; I may be able to help you then. I could never forsake you, I'm sorry." Her voice was soft and believable, but then again, it always sounds that way. I smiled and nodded slowly to her. 'I'd rather have my friend back then feel as if she meant it. I'd rather be with my friend's then feel secure around them. I'll act as if I believe that they'll never do that to me, if it means having them by my side once more.' I thought while smiling to her.

"Okay...I forgive you," a partial lie, "and I'm sorry for flipping out on you, too, it wasn't needed," the full truth, and then some lies. I calmly got up from the floor and brushed off my pants. She did the same and smiled softly up at me. "I think I'm going to go back inside, if that's alright with you that is."

"Yeah, it's fine; well, I'll see you later, Kiko chan!" She quickly departed by jumping off of my veranda railing, and jumping to another one until she got to her own hotel room. I watched with cold eyes as she left me behind, and stood there still till she was out of my sight. I quickly turned back to face the morning's glow. Anger filled my heart, and my hands began to shake faintly. 'Did they honestly think that an apology would take away all of my fears? Far from, no, it just adds more insecurity,' I thought sombrely. I clenched my now shaking fist, and quickly slammed it down onto the wooden railing. A loud thud emitted from it when it collided with the rough bark that had been painted a sickly white color. My eyes were closed as I wait for my anger to cascade away from me. While I anticipated my anger leaving, the weak sound of falling splinters awoke the sense of strength within me. 'Who cares if they mentally harm me? I have power; they can't even begin to imagine how much pain I can and will put them through if they dare double-cross me!'

A small, immoral smirk lined my face, and a new spark filled my ice cold eyes. 'Who needs them...when I have Edragore, the dragon of darkness?' I turned my back to the vitalizing daylight, and walked back to my hotel room filled with nothing but shadows.

Few hours later

I calmly watched my team come back from lifting weights. An undersized smirk formed on my lips as I remembered the mornings training. 'I really kicked butt...Tala kun had nothing on me! He may be the ice soldier, but even ice can be broken. I sure showed them all today! I didn't need their help for anything, and my battle against Tala kun was an added bonus. I still cannot believe that no one else wanted to battle him...maybe they just enjoy training a lot. I mean, if anyone said "battle me and win, and if you do manage to win, you don't have to practise for the rest of the day", then I'd take it; and now their all sweaty, well, so am I, just not as much.'

"Next time, we're taking that easy way out," Bryan retorted tiredly. Tala kun gave him a disgusted glare, which made him shut up. I smiled faintly, and got up from where I sat on the floor. I had been watching Kai san train as well; I could so take him on!

We all stood together now and simply waited for someone to tell us to leave. 'Are we going now?' But, no order came from our leader. I narrowed my eyes, and rudely led off instead of Tala. I was lost in thought of the morning's events, and as to what I'd do for the tournament. All of the attacks I'd use, and what kind of mental strain I'd put on my opponents; I'd terrorize them! My black combat boots clambered and echoed within the building as I stalked off alone. My team didn't follow me, and for some reason unknown to me, I just didn't care anymore. For some reason, I stopped caring if I was alone. I ended my fear of being hated by my team; I discontinued every other emotion concerning my inner most fears. 'If I'm going to win, I'm going to have to block out EVERY emotion I have within me. I'm probably going to be facing off my friends, and I'll need to stop worrying over their feelings if I do happen to beat them, I need to stop worrying about what the after affects of the battle will have on them.

I quickly threw open the metal door, and listened as the hinges creaked once; I really am alone. I abruptly shook off the feeling of loneliness that suddenly shrouded me. With my hands in my pockets, and my black trench coat trailing behind me, I left the area. I calmly walked to the lobby, and paid no attention to all of the people who gave me weary looks as I passed by; who are they to me anyways? My black, medium length hair was put up into a high pony tail that stretched down to my mid back with the help of fake, black hair extensions.

I had successfully crossed the lobby floor and was reaching out to grasp the gold handles of the doors with my black gloved hand that had silver chains criss-crossing across it. However, to my surprise, a tall boy with raven black hair opened it first. I glared up at him with my stormy grey eyes, only to find a mirror image of my own hate in his charcoal eyes. His hair was rather short, but managed to shape his face. A deadly gleam resonated in his eyes as well. He had black, skin tight leather on his hand that came up to the mid point of the lower part of both of his arms. He had giant, heavy bands on his wrists that looked like they were made of iron. He wore a short sleeved, long, very shiny leather jacket/coat that had a high collar that opened up in a sad attempt to hide the back of his neck. He had a black, turtle necked, loose shirt. His neck was ornamented with a golden chain that came down to his chest; it looked rather heavy. Black, skin tight, leather pants and a thick, iron, studded belt completed his wardrobe. For some reason, he was incredibly skinny; he looked half starved but very dangerous.

He 'hn'ed at me, and let the door fall right on my face, anger surged through me like a wild fire in a dry plain. I immediately turned around to say something to him, but stopped short and gazed at him as he walked away. His leather jacket trailed behind his feet with every step he took. How dare he do that to me? Does he not see me? Can he not tell that I'm stronger then he is? I quickly turned around and thrust open the doors, again, and wandered out into the crowded streets of Tokyo Japan.

Later That Day

I came back to the hotel much later at night. I was still fighting the urge to hunt down that guy who slammed the door in front of my face as I was trying to get out of this place. But, as I glanced around the place with keen, polar eyes, I realized that my chance had come and gone. 'I should have yelled at him when he did it to me; it's pathetic to think that I'd bump into him again in this busy hotel, and give him crap for what he did to me earlier in the day; he probably forgot by now anyway.'

I calmly climbed up the stairs that led to my room. My head was down, and I was lost in thought. Once I came to the hallway, I realized that there was absolutely no one else there; how unexpected. I raised my head to see if my ears had deceived me, but they hadn't; there was no one in the hallway. 'You'd think that there'd be at least one person out here since the tournament is only in a day,' I thought calmly. I stopped at my doorway, and took out the white key card that opened the door to my room. I calmly swiped it in the slot, and the little green light flashed. I rapidly turned the handle and entered the room.

It was black like it normally was, and the dark only increased when the door closed behind me. I quickly turned on the light, and waited for my eyes to adjust to the sudden increase of brightness. I blinked away the last of my blindness, and calmly walked over to where the mahogany colored beds were. My face dropped when I realized that there was no one there. 'I know that I was supposed to lose my emotions...but I can't...I have no real reason to do that yet. But, where is my team? They couldn't possibly be out, I mean, it's so late!' I walked into my part of the area, and threw my trench coat onto my bed.

I stood in front of my bed for what seemed endless. My eyes lost all feeling, and appeared dull and lifeless. I stood there, gazing on my nightstand. A picture of my old team was placed there: Vermillion stood to the left of me. His shoulder length, maroon hair ruffled with the breeze. For some reason, he was smiling there; he rarely smiled. You could see the scar across his right hazel eye clearly against his pale skin. He had his arms crossed and his own scarlet trench coat circled around him in a neat fashion. He was rarely messy, and liked everything to be in the right order. His black and red leather pants shined in the Sun.

Damask was on the right side of me. Her long, grey hair was pulled into a pony tail that day, and she let some strands of her hair fall to the sides of her face to help shape it nicely. She was also smiling in this photograph; she rarely smiled as well. It was more like a small, closed mouth smile though. Her eyes were closed and her arms were by her sides. Her grey trench coat made her look a lot skinnier then she really was. It had pink marks all over it, too; much to my own displeasure. She had a long, pink and black skirt on that hid her shoes. She really hated people, and didn't trust many people. She trusted Vermillion and I, but that was about it. Her brother died a long time ago, and she never forgave the world for that.

I quietly took my eyes away from the image; I didn't need to be reminded of them...not now. 'I miss them...I'll never forget them...but she probably already forgot about me. She's probably going back to school now, and she probably went back to her real name so as to escape from her past. I've tried to do that so many times, but it never worked. People may forget about what I had done, but I never will.' Tears lurked in my eyes and were threatening to fall silently. My body was tempting to fall, to break down in utter loneliness. 'I feel all alone, I need to get around this. But, I can't tell anyone, because no one will understand it...'

I fell to my knees as soon as the door creaked open, and recognizable voices filled the place. I quickly got to my feet, and brushed away any sign of tears. I breathed in and out a few times in a pathetic attempt to get control over my feels again. I smiled slightly, and turned around to walk back to them; my current team.

They looked up at me when I ran over to them, and smiled warmly at me. But, I lost control of my emotions again, and stopped to brush away my tears once more. I failed to notice my team coming up to me a few minutes later, and only noticed it when Tala had his arms wrapped around me. I broke down quickly after that, and burst into tears while being held by my team captain. I stopped crying around 15 minutes later, and suddenly felt very grateful to be on this team. 'This is why I stay...because they make me whole again. They're there when I need them the most, and they'll do anything in their power to protect me; I love them.'

AN: this chapter was all done in Kiko's POV, wow o.o'. I know that this chapter was REALLY late, but I had major writer's block, I just hope that the wait was worth it. I'm sorry if you find this chapter slow, but, the next one will have the tournament in it! Yeah, finally! It's going to be kind of hard to write it though, and it might actually be really confusing, but I'll try my best! 'Cause, I'm going to try and add ALL of the beybladers, yup, going to be hard! I can just imagine the confusing language...but all of the different POV's will be fun to write! I might just do the main one's though...like the G-Revolutions, Neoborg, Bega, White Tiger X, and the Majestics (their my third favourite team .). Wow, oddness...haven't written an AN in a long time, and now this is awkward. Well, REVIEW ME! Please review me! And, I'm not sure if the next chapter will be quick or not, you'll just have to hope that I don't get writer's block, again o.o. That would suck if that happened...twice...in a row...Ew. Anyhow, please review me, and please continue reading it! Bye!


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty Four: Rising Anxiety

**Last Time:**

They looked up at me when I ran over to them, and smiled warmly at me. But, I lost control of my emotions again, and stopped to brush away my tears once more. I failed to notice my team coming up to me a few minutes later, and only noticed it when Tala had his arms wrapped around me. I broke down quickly after that, and burst into tears while being held by my team captain. I stopped crying around 15 minutes later, and suddenly felt very grateful to be on this team. 'This is why I stay...because they make me whole again. They're there when I need them the most, and they'll do anything in their power to protect me; I love them.'

**Continued Story:**

-The next Day-

I rubbed my eyes tiredly as the morning glow showered me immensely. Bright reds, oranges, and yellows were all I could see for a small portion of the time I spent lying on my bed. And then I remembered; I just cried into Tala's arms...all because of a picture. My eyes were accustomed to the brightness now, but all I could do was stare blankly up at the ceiling. 'I'm so pathetic...first I walked out to them...then I cried to Tala...then I feel asleep in his arms...his strong arms. They must think me as so pathetic and weak; I'm truly useless to this team.'

My thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the wall beside the curtain that divided my half of the room, from their half. I quickly sat up and did my best to quickly fix up my messy hair. 'Why do they want me?' "Um, come in," I said quietly. My eyes widened at the sound of my own voice reverberating against the pearled walls of the hotel room. My voice is so soft and feeble...why does it sound so dead and unfamiliar? My hands trembled slightly as my eyes, that weren't seeing, failed to notice the figure standing beside my bedside.

"Kiko chan...You're awake. How are you this morning?" I quickly snapped out of my train of thought, and focussed on the boy beside me. "Can you speak at all?" I nodded to him after a few more moments of complete silence.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Tala kun. I'm sorry for...last night; I had no intention of falling asleep on you, or crying to you," I replied softly. I just as quietly tore my frostic eyes away from him; it was bad enough that I cried on him, he truly doesn't need me to stare at him too. I felt a strong hand come down on my arm, and a sense of relaxation over came me. 'Maybe he doesn't think that I'm weak...or maybe he does and he's just trying to be nice about it,' I thought morbidly. 'Why did I think that they could love me and need me, as much as I loved and needed them?'

"It's fine...Kiko chan...Crying doesn't always have to be a weakness. If you have a good reason to cry; then do it. Whatever it was that upset you, must have been...harmful or something," he shuffled over more to me and whispered softly in my ear as I played with the folds of the blankets, "besides, you can always come and cry to me; my arms are always ready to hold you." I quickly looked at him, my pupils slightly wider then before. Did he just say that he would hug me...whenever I wanted him to?

My face flushed deeply as I quietly gazed at his handsome Russian face. "Th-thank you...I'll keep that in mind, Tala kun." We waited in silence for a while before we were interrupted by Spencer's head that just happened to pop into my room.

"Um, sorry...but we need to train. The tournament is tomorrow, and we haven't trained much here," his voice was so deep and heavily accented. His eyes were a deep grey mixed in with turquoise; he looked so sincere. Tala and I both nodded to him, and he got up from my bed.

"I'll leave you to get dressed, alright?" I nodded again, and he flashed me a quick, almost unnoticeable, smile. And then he left just as silently as he had crept in. I sat there on my bed for a while in silence, running the whole moment through my head again. 'Was he flirting with me or something? I'm not sure...I guess I have to get dressed now; I'll ponder on this later!' I quickly threw my legs over the bed side, and sauntered over to where my clothes were. 'What am I going to where today, anyways? I mean, a lot of my clothes are dirty. I guess it doesn't matter though, I mean, I'm going to smell either way.' I snatched up my black shirt with the symbol for love written in blood red at the back (the 'ai' symbol). It was tighter than normal clothes would be, but not skin tight at the same time. I rapidly threw on a random pair of black jeans. And then came all of my arm/neck/hand/leg jewellery. It consisted of leather, black netting, spikers, choker, chains, and death rings on each finger. I finished off my look with a single strand of fiery red fake hair on the right side of my face.

I let a sigh escape my lips as I gazed at myself in the mirror as I combed my black hair. 'I never change what I wear, it's always black...cool.' A small smirk creased my lips as I placed my hair up into a high pony tail. 'Could Tala kun...even like a girl who only wears one color?' I absentmindedly began to just gawk at the mirror amongst the thousands of thoughts swirling around my head.

"Kiko chan, are you ready yet?" Bryan called after me. I snapped out of my train of thought and quickly grabbed my rip cord, launcher, beyblade, and trench coat. I quickly walked out to where the rest of Neoborg was; they could have just left...guess they didn't want to or something. 'Or could it be that they're treating me as their friend, but have I really earned that yet? I mean, I know that they don't trust people easily, and I've only been in their lives for a few weeks (close to a month now, I think). However, I don't know them that well, so then, how could I have earned the right to be their friend?'

"There you are Kiko chan, are you okay this morning?" Bryan's strong voice asked me softly. I nodded to them and smiled reassuringly towards my treasured team members. "Okay, then, are you alright to go train?" I nodded again, and my smile grew into a big childish grin. My eyes were lighter and expressed a great deal of happiness. Tala opened the door that held us back from the rest of the world, and we slowly walked into it as if it were nothing at all.

After Training

We trudged home almost completely wet from head to toe. A small smirk tugged at the corners of my mouth as we passed people who gave us odd looks as we past by. 'Wow, I cannot believe that I convinced Tala kun to make everyone throw themselves into that murky pool; well except for me, that was Bryan's fault! Man that was so much fun; who knew that watching people getting thrown into water would be so much fun? It wasn't fun when Bryan kun threw me in though, but at least Tala kun caught me in the water, or I might've been very irritated at them.'

Our hair dripped and was completely flat against our heads. Ian's and Spencer's hair was no longer above their faces in such an odd way (It's hard to explain, okay? You know how their hair sticks up? Well, now it's down and hiding their faces). Our shoes made an odd squeaking noise against the grey pavement below our feet. "Well, that was unexpected of you to make us do that, Tala san," Bryan said cheerily. I glanced up at Tala with my tundra colored eyes, and saw the corners of his mouth lift upwards in an enormously miniature smile.

"Well, we did smell...it was better then having all of us wait for each other to finish in the shower," came his reply to Bryan's unasked question. A larger smile formed on my lips as I continued to smile up at him contentedly. No one else noticed this as we continued on our way back to the hotel quietly.

In a short while, we came back to where our hotel was and calmly made our way back to our hotel room. Once we were inside, Ian immediately hugged my legs tightly. His great maroon eyes seemed to smile up at me as he got hauled away by Spencer after a few awkward five minutes. 'Why did he hug me like that? People were right; they are really outlandish.' A small smile spread across my mouth pretty quickly after that; but after he left and I was still struck at that same spot with Tala kun beside me, it felt almost just as awkward.

"Well, I think I'm going to go get changed," I said brightly to him and I began walking towards my side of the room. But, I was suddenly stopped and drawn back to where I was before by a pair of strong arms that surrounded me. I heard the door open, and I was thrust outside of the room gently. I watched Tala calmly as he closed the door behind him softly.

"I'm sorry for having to throw you out here like that, but I wanted to talk to you alone, is that alright?" He asked me as he turned around and kept a still, steady, frosty gaze on me. I smiled and nodded gently up at him. 'Why did he want to talk with me?' He silently sauntered down the hallway opposite the stair way, and I quickly joined him at his side. We walked for a little while until he began to speak, even if his voice was almost inaudible, "the tournament is tomorrow, what are your thoughts of that?"

I gazed down at my feet for a little bit, and then exhaled melodiously. "I honestly...don't know what to expect. I'm pretty sure that it'll be worse then the Canadian tournaments." My eyes were placid and almost inhuman as we continued walking along the hallway. I glanced up at him and he seemed to feel my stare because he glanced over at me with a bemused light within his polar eyes.

"What do you mean worse?"

"I mean...more stressful and stuff. Like," I exhaled subtly, "And it was just...really stressful for me and such. I kind of relied on my team a lot to help me through all of my anxiety attacks..." my voice trailed off from there, and my eyes looked defeated as my past memories flooded me again.

"How...often did these attacks occur?" He asked almost in an understanding way.

"Almost every time I found out that the team was to be battling; I'm really...shy...and kind of insecure..." If I told him that I felt even more insecure on this team because I thought that if I lost a battle I'd loose their respect, he might give me one of those 'how-could-you-think-that' looks. There was an eerie silence between us as we continued walking; the only sound between us was the pounding of our shoes on the ground. "I'm...just not sure if I'll disappoint you if I do end up loosing a battle." Tala's head quickly turned and he stopped walking almost as rapidly. He kept his stare fixated on me and waited for me to return the stare. Once I did, he spoke,

"Kiko chan...I'm sorry that you feel that way. However, it isn't true...we won't be disappointed in you if you end up loosing to someone. We have had our fair share of losses, too," his voice was so calming and reassuring that I felt as if I could battle anyone and win. A small smile lined my face now that I felt a little bit better about the whole ordeal.

"Thank you, Tala kun, um, is there anything else you wish to ask?" He nodded and remained in the same spot with the same fixed gaze on me.

"How old...are you?" The question was so simple, and yet so awkward at the same time. 'How did he not know my age all of this time? I can't believe he didn't ask sooner, though.' I shuffled slightly under his stare and snaked my arm to the other side of my body and grabbed my opposite arm with my left hand.

"Um, I'm 16, Tala kun, how old are you?"

He seemed to hesitate at that question, however he did answer it "I'm 18..." 'Why did he hesitate anyway? I mean, it doesn't make sense or does it? He always confuses me...I mean, one moment he's angry, cold and other heart wrenching emotions, and then he's nice, and sweet; men are worse then women I can assure you.' I cocked my head slightly, and he seemed to understand my confusion. "No, it's nothing to do with you, its okay," I smiled slightly and decided to drop the subject.

"Okay, Tala kun...is there anything else you wish to ask me?" My voice was soft and sincere; my eyes reflected the same light. He shuffled uneasily almost, and shook his head to say 'no'. I calmly smiled again, and turned back from where we came. 'Well, that was sure an awkward conversation.'

Tala's POV

I watched silently as she walked past me with no second thought as to why I had asked her those questions. I still had no idea what her attacks are, what she plans to do at the tournament, and if she has any plans at all. I'm not even sure if that nerd, Kenny san, would have anything on her; doubt it. I calmly closed my arctic eyes and turned to walk the opposite way that she went just moments before.

My sombre foot steps echoed throughout the hallway as more questions flooded my mind. 'Did I really have any business liking her if she's that young? But, I guess it doesn't matter much...it's only around two years difference...not that big of a gap right? But I honestly fear with her...anxiety attacks...and the other beybladers' around here, that it might be too hard to handle for her; why didn't I think of this before? This could mean the difference between our team winning or loosing. I know that she's powerful, she beat Bryan and Spencer before, but, that doesn't mean that her nerves will make it harder for her now. I should have prepared her better for this...wait...there might just be a way!'

The words from Boris filled my mind with uneasiness "You must win at all costs!" I shuddered as his raspy, dark words whispered within my memory. 'I'm not going to force her to win at all costs...but what I am going to do is show her what is expected. If I'm right there should be a beydish around here somewhere...and a lot of the teams should still be training in there. If I show her what the old champions can do...maybe it can help prepare her for tomorrow.' My steps quickened as I wandered down the hallway rapidly. My hair was still covering my face in a sloppy fashion. My running ceased as I halted in front of a large glass window. As I stood outside of it, glaring at the people below me; they were amateurs, barely worth while in this competition; however, if this helps...or might help...I'll do anything. I turned back and ran quickly to where I had left her so long ago. 'I hope she's still there...or around there at least.'

My eyes widened as I slammed into her on my way back. I stepped back because of the impact, but apparently I made her fall backwards. "Kiko chan, are you alright? I didn't know you were there..." She looked up at me with her shimmering crystal eyes. And, for a minute, I forgot why I had been running in the first place. Almost automatically, I bent down and reached my hand out to her, and surprisingly, she took it. I gently pulled her back up to stand beside me quietly.

"Uh...thank you, Tala kun, why were you running?" Her face was slightly flushed as her eyes darted around the hallway until they finally rested on me. A small shiver ran up my spine as she set her frosty eyes onto me. I wanted to suddenly wrap my arms around her and just tell her that I liked her...but no...That would be awkward and slightly frightening for the both of us if I did end up doing that.

"I was actually running in hopes to catch up to you...I want you to come with me...is that alright with you?" She nodded and I calmly turned back and led her to where the window was that I had been gazing through earlier. They 'bladers' were still there as we walked up inaudibly to the picture window. The frame was just as bleached as the rest of the ghastly resort. I smiled slightly as I watched her with keen tundra colored eyes; she seemed so awe struck at their performance. 'They're not that good...she should imagine what it'll look like to see all of the champions at their best from different countries, and from different years.' (As in the champions from the other years, it was kind of confusing to re-read, so I thought I'd stick it in.)

"You said that you got shy...and such at the beystadium, so I thought that it could help you a little to see what it might look like," I whispered softly to her. I didn't want to sound cold-blooded and I didn't want to give any type of clue to her of why I was so urgent on having her watch them. She could take it the opposite way of what I was intending, so, I thought it best to tell her this way. However, she did take it the wrong way.

"I thought you said that I didn't have that much to worry about? Are you saying that I'm weak?! I'm not weak, Tala Valkov!" She yelled quite angrily at me. My eyes narrowed exceedingly at the harsh way my last name parted from her lips; what nerve. Ire flashed in my eyes for a short while as we stared each other down.

"Hn," was my reply to her unneeded words as I turned my back once more and walked away. My intentions were good, but she always seems to turn things around to make me out to be the bad guy. I'm not in the mood to be told of how many faults I have.

I stormed down the hallway and marched across the floor of the lobby exceptionally brash. My black gloved hand threw open the door and from there I melted into the small crowd outside of the BBA resort. My ox blood colored hair continued to cover my pale Russian features, and it would stay that way till I fixed it later on. I didn't know where I was going or why I had left so hurriedly, I did know that I didn't want to be there right now. In the mix of all my confusion, I passed many as if they were just snowflakes falling on the surface of the snow.

By the time I realized where my legs had taken me; I was already looking over a forest green railing and gazing out at the calm sea. Its greens and blues made a very calming view as I allowed all of my stress and annoyance leave me. 'Well, that was an overall wasteful action on my part. I guess I might have just wanted to have an excuse to have her by my side; it seems that it's the only time when I can have her there, when I have some kind of job for her. It'll get worse for me emotion wise at the tournament, with guys all over the place just wandering aimlessly around. And with her being a girl and all, she'll be noticing all of them, and my chance to tell her will be gone. Everything that I've felt for the past while will be all for nothing. Because, some guy who doesn't even know her will sweep her off of her feet, and then I'll never see her again...Besides, how did I even come to the point where I thought that it would be acceptable to have me seen by her side; I am a monster after all, all monsters were born to be unloved, and were meant to die alone.' My polar eyes closed, and I waited for the breeze to circulate around my body to help with the now building up stress. 'I never thought about that circumstance before...' A great sigh escaped my anaemic lips as I leaned contently against the jade green railing.

'How did I mess that up? It was a simple task that anyone that survived the Abbey could do...am I forgetting my morals? I know that what Boris did was not suitable, but he was the one who raised me, and even if I want to forget about him and attempt to act normal, I know that I can't; he taught me my principles.' The stress from the previous day had rushed out at me again, and once again, I wasn't prepared for it...My body, and mind suddenly felt vulnerable and unsteady. My breathing quickened greatly, and small beads of sweat began forming on my forehead. An almost pathetic nature over whelmed me, which may be what the cause was for my actions; in the whole while that I was battling with my demons from the past; I hadn't realized that it started to rain, until it got harder. My body was pelted with rain drops, that soon became hard and needle like; also known as a rain barrage. My growing anger was surprisingly surpassing my common sense.

My hand that I was leaning against so heavily on the railing slipped without my noticing. My balanced was lost, and I came tumbling into the chilly, now rough, waters below. 'I can swim so then, why aren't my legs moving? Why am I allowing myself to drown?' Soon enough though, the waters allowed me to bring my head back up to the surface. I gasped for breath and greedily took it all in before I had to go back under. The current below my feet was strong, and the iciness of the water was beginning to freeze me as well. 'Why is it so cold? It shouldn't be...' I thought wearily as I breached the turquoise surface once more.

Kiko's POV

I watched in horror as my team captain fell below the waters surface, "Tala!" I managed to yell. In the brief time that I had been watching him from afar, the sky had changed immensely, it wasn't all pale blue and filled with bright, fluffy clouds, but now had turned black and was dotted with deep grey storm clouds that brought only more disaster. The rain was pelting the ground and me as I stood in shock at loosing sight of Tala. 'What should I do? The news had said that this sudden storm would hit Tokyo when I came back to the room. Bryan kun had said to return and bring Tala back, but I'm too late. I can't swim that well...but there must be some way to save him, to help him!'

My arctic eyes quickly scanned the area in search of something; anything really that could help! But the only things behind me were trees swaying beneath the breeze, and threatening to break and fall to the ground below them. The wind howled above my head as my eyes caught sight of a long string flowing out from one of the tall trees. 'A string...could it be attached to a kite? Well, if it is then I can use that to tow him in!' A large gust of fierce wind scorched my face as I ran quickly up to the string whispering within the trees. I grasped it tightly, and fought to lift my head and look to see what it was attached on. 'It's attached...to a broken piece of wood? Why would anyone put a string, on a piece of wood, and then stick it up there? Perhaps it was made for some kind of tree fort?' In any case, I hurriedly climbed the tree; loosing my footing on several occasions, and pulled down the broken piece of wood. But, when I glanced down to find where to place my feet again in order to climb down, I stopped. 'What am I doing? I'm afraid of heights! Now how am I going to get down? What if I just jumped down; but that might hurt if I landed wrong. But, Tala's out there and I need to help him; he's saved me before...it's the least I can do.'

With closed eyes I clutched the block of wood tightly, and managed to slip off of the tree. I landed it perfectly, and managed to immediately run in the direction he was in after. I gasped when I couldn't find any trace of him in the choppy waters. 'Did he get out? Or he could have drowned, I'm too late!' All thoughts of saving him were dashed as no sign of him was found while I searched the sea water distraughtly with tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry...I was too late," I whispered softly through my falling tears. 'Why did he have to go? I liked him so much...I loved him...He kept me safe, he was my friend. He took me out of the dangerous streets of Moscow; he took me into his home. He was kind to me...he saved my life more than once...and this is how I repaid him, I yelled at him when he was only trying to be nice, and I was too late to save him,' I thought bitterly. 'I'm not giving up until the storm has passed...and then I'll know for sure...that he's gone.'

Minutes passed, or it felt that way, and still nothing to insinuate that he was alive. Tears stung my icy eyes as I continued to scrutinize the perilous water. Then, in the midst of one of my darkest nightmares, his hand flew up from the dark abyss, "Tala!" My eyes were wide with happiness and surprise; he was alive! I quickly grabbed the string with my left hand, and threw the wood onto the waters surface. The string I had found was very strong, it seemed to be made of many layers of tough, but fine, wood; rope. The block of wood landed perfectly on his hand, however that may have been a bad thing in another situation...

His arm wrapped around the floating object, and soon his other arm did the same. His fiery red head crashed onto the surface, sending spray all over the place. "Tala, I'm going to pull you in, just keep on holding onto that piece of wood, okay?" His eyes locked onto me, and I sensed that it meant 'okay'. I nodded, and began to haul him in like one would a very heavy fish. I gritted my teeth together as to help with the rope burn that I was receiving. 15 minutes had passed by, and I could now just grab his arms and pull him over the jade green railing. "Tala, you're almost on solid ground now," I called to him. I quickly ran up to him, not letting go of the rope at the same time, and grabbed onto his strong arms tightly. 'Wow, I never imagined him to be this heavy! I guess he's really just muscle, but wait, then how much would the rest weigh? I mean, Spencer and Bryan are both taller then Tala, they must weigh a lot!' I quickly had him over the edge, and onto solid ground. He was kneeling in front of me, shivering and coughing. His horse cough worried me greatly, but I managed to hide my fears of him getting pneumonia or something worse. I gently brought my hand up to his pale face and brushed away some of his hair that covered his face. "Tala, I'm so happy that your alive...I'm sorry for what I said to you...can you walk at all?" I definitely wasn't about to carry him home, besides, I doubt he'd let me. His tundra eyes quickly fixed themselves on me, and he quietly breathed slowly.

"I...Can walk...Why did you save me?" His voice was raspy and hard to hear. It hurt me greatly to see him in this much despair. I wanted to hold him tightly and never let him go, but alas, some things are not meant to be.

I shook my head gently, and helped him up slowly so as to not drain him completely. "I'll talk to you once you've rested, is that okay?" He nodded to me, and allowed me to help him get up from the wet ground. "Alright then...I'm going to help you back, okay?" He nodded again, but his eyes seemed forlorn. I helped him stand upright, and he let me aid him home.

At the Hotel

We were both dripping wet and completely exhausted by the time we came back. Nothing was said between us as we stopped at the door to knock on it. Tala had leaned against me heavily all the way back, and even now he leaned against me; how come he doesn't seem as heavy now? I hesitantly reached up and knocked on the wooden door. In a few moments of silent waiting, Bryan kun came to the door. "Tala fell into the river, please help me get him inside," he glanced at Tala cautiously, and exhaled softly. He gently moved me to the side, and just as gently, picked up Tala.

I followed them into the room, and stared at Bryan kun as he laid Tala onto the black, leather couch. "He just needs some rest; you don't have to worry about him, okay Kiko chan?" I looked away softly as he said this; I wish I couldn't worry, but I always end up doing it, no matter how much people tell me not to, and sometimes I worry even more when they say that. "But, I guess you can sit beside him and watch him or something creepy like that if you're going to be that worried," he said this in a very exasperated tone that I took into account.

"I'm sorry, Bryan kun, but I'm not going to leave him...not after what I yelled at him," He raised an eyebrow at this, but decided to drop it after a hard look from Spencer, "but, what about the tournament tomorrow?" I asked uncertainly. An eerie silence enveloped us all as we stood around the couch together.

"It might actually be cancelled for tomorrow because of this flash storm, it depends if the dome gets damaged or not, and how many other bladers' got lost in the storm," Spencer replied half heartedly. I nodded, knowing full well that I might have to beybattle tomorrow even if I did want to stay by Tala's side. I also knew just as well that what Spencer kun had said was a very sad attempt at trying to cheer me up. 'Wait, since when have I begun calling Tala by his first name with no honorific? Will he be angry about that? Will anyone else notice this, too?' worry encased my mind as I sat down on the chair across from him that Spencer so helpfully brought in.

We all gathered around as we waited for news on tomorrow's tournament. Finally, after a few minutes went by, the BBA news came on. "We just got news from Mr. Dickenson, that the tournament tomorrow will not be postponed," the news lady told us. Bryan kun angrily turned off the TV, and wandered back over to his bed.

"He's just angry about having to not rely on Tala san this time, but we do have you, so that is an up side. But Kiko chan," Spencer started calmly as he sat down across from me, "if we're up against your friends, we're not going easy on them, and neither should you. They're our enemies on the beydish; they're your friends on the side lines, alright?" I nodded tranquilly as he continued, "so, you will be okay if we face off on their team right off the bat, right?" I nodded again to him; did he really have to worry of such things? "Alright, try to not stay up too late, good night, Kiko chan," I smiled and said my good night to him softly, and then I was alone, sitting in the dark beside Tala kun. 'I hope we'll do alright tomorrow...I hope Tala will be alright...' I thought serenely as the night closed in on me from all sides.

In the Morning

My eyes flickered open as the light filtered into our room melodiously. I glanced over towards Tala's sleeping form and waited anxiously for the rest of my team to wake up. 'Will he be alright to battle today? Did he wake up during the night?' I thought ominously. I gingerly got up from where my sitting position was and walked lightly over to where my side of the room was located. I pulled back the sheet quietly and stepped into my room. The sun was shinning brighter this morning then it did the previous day; as if it was promising a good tournament. A small smile creased my lips as I stood there watching it peacefully. 'Oh, I need to get changed!'

I rapidly dug through all of my clothes, and finally came upon my 'blading 'uniform'. It consisted of a black leather tank top, with chains crossing a lot of it. My right arm was covered with spikers that only went up to my elbow; the rest of my arm was covered with a chain that connected itself to the other chains on my shoulder. My other arm mirrored the other except, instead of chains at my elbow; I had black, tight netting that stretched to my shoulder as well. A black, spiked choker wrapped itself around my thin neck. My nails had black nail polish on, and my hand had black, leather, fingerless gloves that had small studs on the knuckles.

My pants were black leather with chains covering my thighs. My black leather, studded belt hung around my waist loosely; my pants honestly didn't need a belt, it just added to it nicely. My hair was tied back in a high pony tail that had a spiked covering over where my hair tie was. My bangs covered my forehead neatly, and they were long enough to cover up my icicle like eyes. My ears were completely covered in looped earrings, and had a bridge going across the top of my right ear. A single strand of fake red hair hung down at the side of my face, the tip of it ended at my chin. And lastly, I finished my look with thin black eye liner, black eye shadow, and faint black lipstick.

I smirked at myself in the bathroom mirror as I finished the rest of my morning routine. 'Well, nobody should talk to me now, good.' I walked out of the washroom silently and watched intently as the rest of my team got ready for the tournament. I nodded slightly as I walked into my side of the room again. I heard the rustling of clothes clearly against the silence that filled the room entirely. I coolly picked up my 'blade', and began to stroke it in small circles. 'It's just me and you, Edragore, please don't let me down,' a transient glow emitted from the iron beyblade in my hand, which seemed to say, 'alright'. I smiled again and waited for my team to yell out to me that Tala was okay, or that it was okay to start heading out. A thought suddenly hit me: what happens if I get so sick, that I end up puking? I'd better bring some kind of stomach medicine.

I got up from my mahogany bed and wandered back over to the bathroom. When I was walking through their room, I noticed that Tala hadn't moved since we placed him on the couch last night...Once inside the washroom, I unobtrusively looked through the medicine cabinet in search for stomach medicine. Surprisingly, there was a lot of it in the boys' cabinet. I took a small bottle of it, and unnoticeably placed it into my pocket. 'Well, at least I won't puke on my opponent, though that might help me win.' I quietly left the washroom, and watched with great interest as the rest of the boys stood over our team leader. 'Is he up already?' I thought in disbelief as I wandered over towards them inaudibly.

"Hey...Kiko chan, he's starting to get up! Um, why are you dressed like that?" Ian's small impish voice inquired. I looked at him in complete disgust, and made an 'hn' sound at him, which clearly pissed him off. "You don't have to be such a-"But a strong smack in the back of his head made him halt his, probably, unnecessary sentence. What made our eyes widen was the fact that is had been Tala's hand that had stopped him.

"Ian, you know better then to...call women things such as that!" Ian's auburn eyes widened immensely at the booming sound of his leader's voice.

"Tala san, I'm so...relieved that you're up! Do you think that you can-"However, once again, he was stopped by another blow to the head, this time by my hand. He turned around and gave weary glances at us all as we glared down upon him.

"Ian kun...Tala just woke up...give it a rest!" My scoffing voice retorted. An inquiring Tala raised his crimson eyebrows at me, in which I smiled slightly and shuffled back, only to land on my back because Ian left his rifle behind me and I slipped and fell on it. "Urgh...Ian! I'm going to strangle you, and then I'm going to feed you to the dogs!" A small, eerie smile spread across Bryan's face as I yelled at the midget. Ian kun just backed up and wandered off grumbling all the way.

"Alright...Tala san, if you want, you can come to the tournament, but then you need to get ready," Spencer's voice of reason said loudly. I nodded, and got up from the floor quickly. Tala was sitting up on the couch, and nodded up towards Spencer approvingly.

"Yeah, I do want to come," he slowly got up, and brushed past me soundlessly. But, while he did this, his hand brushed against my own in an almost accidental way. I looked down shyly, and stood there silently. A light blush flashed over my face in which I hid by ducking my head down as if I was looking for something. 'Wow...his hand touched my own! Strange...it was probably an accident...nothing more,' I quickly brushed off all thoughts of him liking me in any way besides being his friend.

In around 20 minutes, the team was ready to head out of the stinky place known as a hotel room, and outside towards the tournament. However, before we left I got my black leather trench coat out from my suit case, which now flowed out pleasantly around me. My rip cord was in my hair, and everything else was in place. My black and silver iron toed boots clanged against the cement below our feet. 'Does he remember last night? It doesn't seem as if he does...So then, there isn't anything for me to apologize for, right? But, I guess I should even if he doesn't remember my words.'

I continued to walk in the same comatose state while thinking fiercely about what I'll do in the tournament, and when I'd say sorry to my didactic team leader. I didn't comprehend the fact that we might not even be battling that day. 'What'll happen if I somehow mess up in front of the whole world?' I felt a sudden rush of anxiety over whelm me, and soon it was hard to walk in a straight line. 'I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail,' I kept on repeating that in my mind until we got to the big, white doors that held us back from the inside of the BBA arena. The doors had large glass windows that made it possible for us to grasp a look at what we'd be in for before we actually set foot inside the building. 'So, this is it eh? It's actually not as ugly as their hotel...hopefully they actually have some kind of color inside; wow, who would have thought that I'd be the one to say that?' I thought casually while reading the banners at the top of the building flap within the slight wind.

Tala moved in front of me steadily and pulled the door open for the rest of the team. As I walked past him, I silently nodded a 'thanks' to him, unnoticed by the rest of Neoborg. Tala returned it by giving me a moment's eye contact before he led the way into the rest of the giant building. Our footsteps ricocheted against the metallic walls that we walked between, our heartless facades were glued onto our faces, and unless they brought some sort of knife with them to pry off our fascias, they wouldn't be coming off. 'It's like it was built only for this sport...I'm so injudicious sometimes. I wonder if Tala will put me in the ring if we do get to 'blade? I'm slightly hoping for that to happen, but at the same time, I'm against it with my whole heart.'

We calmly took our seats in the deep blue bleachers that the fans would normally sit in. 'Are we waiting for the rest of the teams to get here? It seems as though we're the first...I wonder what other teams will show up.' My arms are crossed over my chest as I sat there, with my back straight next to Tala, 'will it be too hard for me? What will happen to my relationship with Tala; it might falter depending on how badly I loose or win.'

In half an hour, the place had a quarter of it filled with all of the beybladers that were to compete. I watched with cold, unfeeling, subzero eyes as they all sat down and waited for the man named 'Mr. Dickenson' to speak. I could distinguish every 'blader and their team from where I sat so high up in the deep blue seats. 'Kyoko is across from us with the G-Revolutions, White tiger X is a few rows below them, and Bega is far away from any of us; I wonder why….' I decided to ignore the fact that maybe they had done something wrong in the past, I mean, Tala did call them trespassers to the game, but what did he mean by that? "Hn…"

A skinny man wearing a black, short sleeved, jump suit type of thing, that had bright red and dirty white shoulders, and his shins were covered in greyish white. He had a black, cordless mic in his hands, and a red and black head band covering his head; even though we could still tell that he had chocolate brown hair. His breast pocket had the symbols BBA written clearly in pearl white. "Okay, beybladers, it's time for the new tournament to get on with it! We have teams from the past here with us today, and for some it's their first time! My name is DJ Jazzman, and I'm going to tell you what you're going to do before we actually start the tournament." All of our attentions were caught as we listened intently on what he'd say next, "we want you to all 'register'. We know that you'll be competing, but we need your beyblade statistics and other various things that we can only obtain by getting you to 'register'; you only have to fill out the answers to a diverse amount of questions, and then we'll see you tomorrow for the official matches! The papers are on the desk in the lobby, so if you please, go to the lobby now, and then once you're done with the paper, hand it back in to the secretaries, have a good day!" He quickly departed from the middle of the area, leaving us all in perfect surprise; we went down here for nothing?

Tala quickly got up from where he sat, and made his way back down to the floor where the other 'bladers were leaving. "Well, we'd better go and fill out that registration form…or whatever it may be," he said in a deep, husky voice. We all nodded in agreement to him, and followed him without any hesitation. 'What am I going to put in this registration form? Do I need to lie or anything? And suddenly…I'm really looking forward to this 'tournament'.'

AN: Well, this chapter came out rather quickly, eh? And, it wasn't quite as slow as it usually is. I know that this chapter is longer then usual…exactly three more paragraphs more. Um, wow, for once there's not that much to say. O.o o.O um, well, the next chapter will definitely have the tournament in it. I mean, it was more mentioned in this one, not really the tournament. However, I only placed the 'registration' thing in it, because I remembered that before any battle in the anime, they had the opponents' picture, and statistics, well, relatively speaking. So, I thought 'they're not going to have any of the pictures…better make them.' When I placed 'why is the water so cold…it's not supposed to be,' or something like that in Tala's POV, I was insinuating that because of his mutation, and his odd connection to Wolborg, Wolborg was affected by Tala's weariness and was slowly freezing the water. Alright, well, that's really all I have to say concerning the chapters, oh, and the only reason why I cut off this chapter in such a way, is because I thought that you wouldn't read all of it if it got any longer, so it's kind of like a two part chapter. Hopefully, the next chapter will come quickly, and will be good enough for all of you dedicated readers. I'm only going to re-post again if I get at least 4-5 reviews. So, please review me! REVIEW ME, PEOPLE! pleads Um, well, I'll write more quickly! Bye!


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Water Moon

**Last Time:**

Tala quickly got up from where he sat, and made his way back down to the floor where the other 'bladers were leaving. "Well, we'd better go and fill out that registration form…or whatever it may be," he said in a deep, husky voice. We all nodded in agreement to him, and followed him without any hesitation. 'What am I going to put in this registration form? Do I need to lie or anything? And suddenly…I'm really looking forward to this 'tournament'.'

**Continued Story: **

We waited tolerantly for the rest of the teams to grab their registration papers, and go back to where the benches were in the lobby. I surveyed the rest of the teams with perceptive wintry eyes. 'They seem to perform this as if it were habitual. Is this like some altered version of an army camp? Their virtually like soldiers; I mean, what kind of person writes down and takes papers at the same time like that?' I thought with a bit of repugnance.

I watched Tala walk towards the front desk quietly, and gather our papers in a rather nippy motion. 'He seems as if he was vexed with this whole situation. I mean, he almost drowned yesterday, he got up today just so that he could come to the tournament, and now he's learned that it was cancelled, and that he had basically got up for nothing; wow, that would really be unpleasant.' Bryan, Spencer, and Ian looked as if this was normal as well; did they always think of the things that could impede on us?

Tala quietly returned to us with five white sheets of paper, and an unreadable look pasted onto his face. With a single nod, we followed him wordlessly and with no dissent as he led us over to where a clear table was located. We sat down upon it inaudibly and almost in synch. Tala handed out black, ball point pens, and we set to work on filling out all of the blank spots on the platinum paper. 'Name...they don't know my name? What on earth...oh...they don't even know me...'

I began filling out the questions: 'Gender...Girl...Name...Kiko Wieler...Bit beast...Edragore...Team name...Neoborg...Beyblading history...I was on the Canadian team for a while, we won the Canadian Championships, and I sometimes 'blade on the streets...Age...16...Main attack...Vortex of darkness.' There were several others, but their not worth mentioning. I quietly looked up after I was finished, and stole a glance at Tala's answers; he sat beside me.

'Gender...Boy...Name...Tala Valkov...Bit beast...Wolborg...Team...Neoborg team captain...Beyblading history...I was in the first World Championship, and made it to the finals; I've 'bladed on the streets...Age...18...Main attack...Novae Rog.' His glacial irises wandered over to glance back at me as I peered over his shoulder in a calm manner. A low growl seemed to come forth from deep within his throat, which made me back off rather hurriedly. I sat motionless as I waited for the rest of my team to finish. 'What do Bryan's answers sound like?' With the same slow movements, I casually glanced over his shoulder in an attempt to figure out his answers. My eyes widened when he quickly turned his paper up-side down and glared at me with his deep, teal eyes. 'Fine...why is my team being exceptionally cold right now? I mean, did they just not want me knowing about them? Or did they find it bothersome to have me looming over their shoulders? I'm not really sure which right now...they just suddenly did a one eighty on me; did I do something wrong?' My face was warped into one filled with worry as even more anxiety filled my life.

An unexpected lurch in my stomach caused my eyes to widen; now what? I quickly got up from the isolated table that we sat at. My footsteps quickened till I was practically running across the lobby floor. I threw open one of the stall doors, and shut it behind me rapidly. I hurriedly knelt beside the pearled toilet, and pulled back all of my hair that might get in the way as I puked into the toilet. The burning sensation made me want to hurl even more, even if it did only make my sickness worse. 'This isn't new for me...I usually puke on tournament days, either after or just before. But, I've never puked because of my team...What they said a long time ago...They said that I might not be cut out for this team, maybe they were right.' I remained there for around 15 minutes, and finally got up from the dirty floor when I figured that I was alright. I stood up, and with a shake of my head, I flushed away all evidence of my nausea.

I quietly opened the stall door, and stepped out uncertainly into the empty bathroom. In front of me were very large mirrors. They reflected the pain within my crystalline eyes, and the way my face seemed so forlorn. I quietly walked up to the sinks, and turned on the hot water. It cascaded in such a manor, that it helped numb my mind as I watched it intently. The sound of a million waterfalls crashing speedily filled up the area. I glanced back up at the mirror, and let a sigh escape my lips. 'My hair is so messed up...Might as well fix it,' I gradually lifted my hands up to where my pony tail was, and quickly pulled my hair down to just beneath my shoulders. It's black, silky surface left me transfixed for a moment or so, and then I remembered why I had it down in the first place. I brought my hands up to my hair, and began running my fingers through it. Why I felt this way all of a sudden, was just as confusing to me as the rest of my team was to my emotions right now. In five minutes, steam started to come forth from the scalding water below me. The mirror rapidly fogged up, and I could no longer see my replication in the mirror. I calmly wiped away the fog, and quickly pulled my hair back up, into what it was before.

'It looks too hot...The water might be too hot for me to wash my hands in...Oh well, like my team would care anyways.' I slowly dunked my hands into the scorching liquid. My mind immediately screamed for me to pull my hands back, but my heart wanted my hands to stay; I chose to keep my hands where they were. The water flowed over my hands like there was no tomorrow; it felt so unbelievably good. By the time I pulled my hands clear of the substance, they looked like red tomatoes. The first layer of skin seemed to be yelling derogatory things at me because I had intentionally harmed it. "Heh, there's nothing better then burning your hands...Well, the only thing better than that feeling, is the feeling of belonging," I managed to whisper to myself before I closed my subzero eyes.

A knock on the bathroom door brought me back to reality; it reverberated against the white walls. I quickly turned my head to listen for something else to follow the hollow sound, "Kiko chan, are you alright?" It was Spencer's deep voice this time; like Bryan or Tala would ask that to the bathroom door, they're much to prideful, and they're probably still mad at me...

I quickly turned off the sink, and with one final glance at my features, I left the area. I pushed against the bathroom door with my back as I speedily pulled on my longer gloves in a last ditch attempt to hide my burnt hands. My frosty eyes met Spencer kun's, once I had gotten out of the bathroom safely. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine Spencer kun, thank you for asking," I said in my utmost sweetest voice. A small smile finished the facade as my steady gaze passed from Spencer, to Ian, to Bryan, and finally to Tala. 'Wow, they all came; that's got to be one of the most surprising things that has happened to me today!' I thought almost bitterly, 'still though, Spencer kun probably made them have a guilt trip or something to get them to come over here.'

"Okay, Kiko chan, if you say so...but Tala sir wishes to speak to you in private, is that alright, right now?" Spencer's polite, and deep voice asked. I nodded, and smiled sweetly at them all. They returned with a single nod, and the rest of the team left Tala and I alone. Tala's eyes connected with my own, and then he motioned for me to follow him; I did so like an obedient dog. He led me out of the beyblade stadium, and kept on walking silently. There were no words between us as I continued to trail behind him in thought. 'Where is he taking me? This looks like the trail to the park...But why would he bring me here?'

Tala's footsteps stopped which made me look up into his icicle like irises. I waited for him to speak, not really noticing that it was getting late outside. "Kiko chan," he sighed, "why did you suddenly run off like that?" His voice seemed sincere enough, so I decided to answer him truthfully.

"I felt like I was going to puke...So I left and ran to the bathroom to do so," I shrugged my shoulders slightly as if it weren't that big a deal, and waited for him to reply. 'He's probably going to yell at me for telling them that I was fine; but what do they expect? They just glared at me for looking over their shoulders, and then they followed me to the bathroom like the creepers they are.' But, surprisingly, he didn't yell at me, he just gazed at me with his vibrant, gorgeous, tundra eyes.

"You could have just told us that, but was there another reason for you to suddenly take off like that?" He sounded so quiet, and so sure that there was something wrong; which of course he was right, but that also doesn't mean that I'll let him know that. His voice sounded so gentle, like that of a worried friend. 'Why does he sound so vexed? It's not as if he's treated me like a friend today...Well at least for the past little while he hasn't.' I kept my eyes lowered, and waited for my nerves to calm down before I decided to answer his question.

"Yeah, kind of, it's just that the look you gave me, made me feel so unwanted and stuff, so my already high anxiety rose considerably. I know that you never intended for that sort of thing to happen, and it was partially my fault, but it didn't really-"He cut me off with a single icy glance, but he didn't seem mad at me. We remained there in silence as we waited for either to speak. I felt so weak and so vulnerable because I told him of my vomiting in the bathroom, and I told him of what had been bothering me; something I rarely do. In my opinion, my emotions are mine alone, and nobody else should have to take care of me or my turmoil.

I had my head lowered and thought of all the things he could say to me because of what I had just told him. 'He could ostracize me, or treat me so differently...He could use this little bit of information against me in an attempt to throw me off of the team so that he had extra beybattling time...' While I continued to think that and more, I failed to perceive Tala's approaching footsteps. I quietly began to enfold my body with my small, skinny arms. Any sign of weakness to him is a sure way to rejection; why must I be so weak? He wouldn't like me if he knew all of my fears, and all of my weaknesses in my overly weak self.

I awoke from my hallucination by the strong arms that suddenly enveloped me. My body relaxed greatly as I felt my head hit his chest gently. 'Why is he hugging me? And why is he doing it so tightly? It's as if he's afraid to let me go...' I exhaled as we stood there underneath the lamp post that showered us with yellowish light while we stood in the dark in silence. "Kiko chan...I'm sorry if I made you feel that way; I never intended to make you assume that you didn't belong here, with us. However, I did warn you about that, though," he sighed in a defeated fashion, and then finished off his sentence by saying, "But please know, that when you see me as the snow, my feelings for you are always going to be feelings of summer." His voice was so soft, and so gentle, that I didn't comment on his metaphor. 'He used the seasons as an example of how much he cares for me...That is so smart.'

I leaned against him slightly, and I slowly brought my arms around his own petit waist. We remained like that for some time, just listening to each others breathing and to the beautiful sounds of the night; crickets chirping and the whisper of the wind as it sifted through the trees surrounding us. The night sky was ordained with tiny stars, and the blinding platinum light of the moon. Tala's cologne filled my nose strongly; so that was what they used all of their cologne for, they used it for tournaments! His jacket was soft and smooth as I let my hands clench the fabric.

In a few moments, we let each other go and resumed staring at the moon's glow. I turned to him slowly, and gently tapped his shoulder in which he turned to face me like what he had done before. "Tala, thank you for...talking to me about this; it means a lot to me." My voice was quiet, but the way that his frostic eyes changed made me know that he heard me, even if I was so close to being inaudible. A light spark entered his eyes when I had only whispered his name; did that mean that he didn't want me to call him by his first name? "Uh, I'm sorry if I angered you because I used your forename." My voice lowered immensely as I said this to him.

"No, it's alright if you only say my name," he quietly replied to me. A small smile threatened to emerge on my pale face, and the look that he gave me afterwards said that he knew that he had the power to make me grin sheepishly. I quickly looked away, and an almost silent chuckle exited his lips as he switched his gaze as well. We were there for a while before we both felt like it was time to leave. With a single nod from the crimson haired Russian captain, we left in silence, but this time it was a comfortable silence.

At the Hotel

Tala silently opened the door for me as we walked into the dim lighted room. A small smile laid across my face as we watched with great amusement as our other team members sat at the table, doing the homework that they had received the past week. 'I'm glad Tala talked to me...I feel so much better now. I was actually going to say something later in the day if he didn't say anything then...I hate being in this confusing type of argument. If I've done something wrong, or if somebody has wronged me...I want to work it out then and there, but the other said person usually doesn't want to...' I closed my subzero eyes, and waited patiently for Bryan's snide remark, or Ian's irritating voice that seemed way too low for his age, or Spencer's idiosyncratic gems of wisdom. However, all they did was look up from their white papers, and nod at us; did they think that something was up?

I stood beside Tala rather uncomfortably; the silence was grating on my nerves. "I, uh, I'm going to...My side of the...Room, is that okay?" Tala nodded down at me, and I swiftly walked over to where my mahogany bed was located. With a small tug on the curtain, I walked over to my bed with light foot steps, and sat down on my bed. 'Today was so stressful...I wonder when we can beyblade...?' I closed my eyes once again, and fell back into a resting position.

-Neoborg's POV-

"Tala sir...How did it go? She seems a lot...calmer than before." The team leader nodded his head to the inquiring voice that belonged to Ian. Tala pulled out a black chair, and proceeded to sit at the table with his team. His tundra colored eyes remained closed, and his arms were crossed over his chest. He sat with a straight back, and his ankles were crossed; but not in a girly fashion.

"The conversation went very well...Spencer san, how did you know that something had been wrong?" Spencer shrugged his shoulders slightly at their leader, and resumed writing down answers to his homework; Spencer doesn't really talk to his team that much, only when he deems it necessary. "Hn..." was all that had been said before they went back into yet another inaudible conversation.

"Spencer san...I owe you...You may have told me just in time to stop her from leaving the team..." Tala's voice said lowly in Russian. Spencer quietly looked up with his grey eyes, and a small smile creased his lips. He then received a nod from Bryan, and a smirk from Ian.

"Anyways...What are we going to eat?" Ian asked to no one in particular.

"Mm, maybe anything in the fridge..." Bryan's voice said in a half muffled and bored expression. Tala's cold glare sent shivers up everyone's spines if they dared look up into his icy irises. He quickly got up from where he sat, and stormed over to where Kiko's room was.

Bryan's cobalt blue eyes remained fixated on the homework that was set in front of him. "Nice, Bryan...Thanks for making him angry...Now we'll have to eat garbage or nothing at all!" Ian's hand collided with Bryan's head after he was done speaking to the now angry dove grey haired Russian doing his homework beside the violet haired imp.

"Watch it, shrimp, or I'll beat you like you've never been beaten before!" Ian san calmed down after that, and Bryan continued in a more composed manner, "Besides, I don't even know what I did this time. How was I supposed to know that any comment on food that was even a little bit reasonable would get him infuriated? Why should I feel any kind of guilt about getting him angry when I didn't do anything wrong? It's not like this is new or anything, I mean, that man gets angry almost every-"He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Tala and Kiko walk by. Tala still had the same frostic glare on his face as he left the room. He quickly slammed the door behind himself as he and Kiko stormed out into the cold of the night.

All was quiet except for the sounds of the door slamming as they continued to reverberate throughout the room. All eyes rested on Bryan, and all were soaked in irritation, "nice...Now we're going to go hungry for a week! And poor Kiko chan, she's going to have to deal with him and his so called emotions!" Ian then received a powerful smack in the back of his head from Spencer.

"Ian...It's not his fault that he sometimes doesn't have any emotions," the tall Russian said strongly.

"But, Tala san did want to get mutated!" Ian persisted.

"Ian, that's enough, we should respect ourselves enough to stop talking about him...If he found out you know that he'd kill us," Bryan replied before Spencer could retort to the previous comment given out by the imp. They all nodded in unison, and continued to do the remaining content on their homework.

-Kiko's POV-

I waited expectantly for any reason as to why I was dragged back outside with Tala. 'I shouldn't ask him...That might anger him more. But, I'm still not sure why I'm out here! It's slightly cold out...Actually, I think its freezing! I'm hungry, too...I was going to just skip dinner tonight and fall asleep before I got hungry again; guess Tala has other plans for me.' The streets weren't crowded, and the moon was still shinning brightly over us. The stars twinkled softly beside the great mass of rock and stone. The wind lightly washed over my face and body, which made me shudder from the cold.

I stopped when I noticed that Tala had ceased walking a head of me. 'Oh no...Did I lose him? How could I lose him here? There's almost no people in this area; but...Maybe he wanted to lose me...Did he ditch me on purpose?!' I looked frantically around for any sign of my team captain; but it was only in vain. Worry encased my mind as thoughts of what I'd do now that he's gone. I didn't even know where I was! I quietly began walking again in hopes that maybe I'd find him.

A robust hand came down on my shoulder. It startled me so much; I screamed and jumped out of my shoes. The other hand belonging to the same person who held my shoulder covered my mouth with the same amount of strength that he held my shoulder with. "Kiko chan, calm down...It's okay, it's Tala," I quickly turned back around and rested my eyes on the fiery red haired Russian. "I'm sorry that I took off without you, but I thought you knew where I was..." His voice was so soft and calming, "I'm also sorry for my sudden anger, please know that it is not directed at you. I...Can I make it up to you by buying you dinner?" My eyes widened incredibly 'dinner...alone...with...Tala?'

I smiled softly up at him as he let go of my mouth when he thought that I had calmed down enough. My eyes were electric blue, with soft pearl streaks embedded into them. "Where do you want to go then?" He smiled back at me as those words parted my lips and reached his ears. He gently took my hand, and led me away rather quickly.

"I'm only holding your hand so that you don't get lost again..." I nodded in response to him, but in a slightly downcast way; I guess I really wished that he was holding my hand because he had wanted to...Not that the reason changed the fact that the man of my dreams was leading me to some eating place (it could just be Mc. Donald's) where we would eat alone!

We stopped in front of a not-to-showy restaurant; the kind that you can get away with just wearing sneakers, jeans, and a sweater. I smiled slightly nervously up at Tala, and calmly waited to see if we were moving on, or just staring at the window blankly, "Is this okay, Kiko chan?" I nodded up at him and he gently led me inside of the brick walled building.

The chiming of the doorway was really the only thing that made noise in the room. It was almost empty except for a few other people eating farther away from where we stood. Tala loomed over me in a protective manner and continued to scrutinize the waitress long after she had came to give us our table and to gather our orders. "Um, Tala...You don't really have to glare at her like that. I'm sure she means us...No harm..." I said softly while drinking some of my coca cola (heh, not quite sure on how to spell it...But at the risk of sounding like it's some kind of drug, I must put in 'a cola'. Yes, oh, and disclaimer note: The drink is not my own, it's some rich dudes). He casually looked over at me with his frostic eyes.

"I know that...Anyway, do you think that you're ready for the tournament?"

I nodded faintly at him and replied softly, "I don't really know, Tala. It wasn't really a 'tournament' today, and that made me sick,"

"Maybe you were just ill because of us...?" He asked after my previous comment. I shrugged slightly, and smiled across at him again. "I'm sorry about...Bringing up the work part of things...But I really don't know what to say," his subzero eyes seemed to almost beg me to change the subject.

I nodded at him, and sighed contently as the silence between us increased. 'What does one say on these types of things anyways? I mean, it's not like it's a date or anything, but it is still rather awkward! I mean...What should I say? I guess I can ask him random questions about himself, and hope to eventually spark up a conversation that we can both take part in; it is worth a try.' "Um, so, uh, Tala what are you...Uh, what is your favourite color?" 'Oh yeah, such a typical question; smooth Kiko, very smooth,' I thought in a sarcastic manor.

He glanced up at me quickly after gazing out at the window beside our table. He raised an eyebrow questionably, and made no sudden urge to answer me. "I haven't thought about that before...I guess its red...What about you?"

"Oh, it depends on what you call a color," I then quietly brought my drink up to my lips, and drank a bit more of the addictive liquid. Tala shrugged across at me, and proceeded to drink some of his coca cola. It was a while before either of us spoke. Tala kept on gazing through the window as if there were no tomorrow, and I stared at my lap hoping for something to happen to make the night a little less awkward. A soft tap against the polished wood brought me back to my senses. 'Is Tala that dense? I mean...He should know by now that taping your fingers against something to get a girl's attention will only back fire on him.' I quickly lifted my crystalline eyes and tilted my head in a perplexed sort of way; it wasn't him who had hit the table so gently.

"Hey, Kiko; what are you and Tala sama doing here?" I glanced up into frosty irises, with a ring of navy surrounding them. Her jet black hair hung loosely in a pony tail with her bangs covering her forehead; Rin. The other girl beside her gave a small, shy nod, and an equally shy smile. Her amethyst eyes appeared calm, but content. Her violet hair was wrapped up in a black and white cloth, and much like her companion, her bangs hid her forehead too; Kiyoko.

"Uh, hey you guys! What...Are YOU doing here, eh?" I retorted in an attempt to evade the question that had been thrown at me. They shrugged, and Rin closed her eyes with a sigh. She then placed her hand on the table and leaned tiredly against it. 'So, are they here alone?' I thought, 'it's rare to see them out like this...Kiyoko must have really persuaded Rin to come...Who knew she could.'

"Tyson invited the White Tiger's to eat with him and his team...So we had to tag along. I'm so glad that we found you though...It was getting kind of boring," The purple eyed feline replied, "so...Can we join you two, or should we leave you be...?" I quietly moved over and so did Tala. I smiled reassuringly at him, and he responded by rolling his icicle like eyes. 'I guess our night got ruined...Well at least it isn't _too_ awkward.' Rin sat beside Tala and Kiyoko beside me. 'Rin still doesn't trust Tala...Will she think of him as a threat to me?' Worry showed in my eyes, but otherwise, I remained the same.

'They're both so different...We're all so different. Rin isn't human...Kiyoko isn't human...Marissa is human...But, do I count as being one, too? Kiyoko doesn't trust that many people...Rin doesn't trust anybody except for her friends...Marissa...Well I'm not sure on that...I don't trust anyone really, there's always a chance that they could back stab me. Well, maybe we're not that different...But how can people like us stay together for so long? We're all cold...We've all had bad pasts with family and friends...With Boris and Voltaire. Rin and I both have dragon bit beasts, and some of our attacks use the same elements...But still...I think of me as the better 'blader. Nobody has truly seen Edragore...Kiyoko shows Drameena too quickly...And Rin has shown Oceanna to some. I'm not even sure if they've seen Edragore; and if that is the case, I hope they never do.'

An Hour Later

-Rin's POV-

As I walked back with my 'team', I caught a glimpse of the appearing sun as it showered us with its blinding snow white light. Why does it have to be that way? Why does it have to be so...So...Pure?! Yeah, it has craters and other marks on its surface, but no body pays attention to those imperfections...But as soon as a person changes their clothes, or grows up, people see that as an imperfection, and they judge them for that; leaving them to rot away within the chambers of their own hearts. 'In shadows, her soul was molded from ashes; porcelain masks of stone and crystal and there she waits...'

'Why does she have to be around him all of the time? Doesn't she know that boys will only harm you in the end? She's a fool for believing that he's 'normal', no, he's exactly like me! He...Will only cause her pain...and yet she does not head my warnings, and goes after him like a fish does a hook. What does she see in him? But...If he is just like me...then what does she see in me? Why does she stay, when I've told her many times to go? Why did she not ignore me when she learned of my 'condition'? I'm a hollow shell that has no emotions what-so-ever...so then...What does she see? Why did she stay? Why me...I don't deserve this...I don't deserve what this thing called love.'

My eyes are now cold and bitter as I walked silently through the deserted streets of Tokyo. My ears are filled with the constant bickering between Mariah and Kevin. The only feeling I have is the wind softly swirling around in front of me, and the only thing I see is the darkness being broken into segments from the Moon's glow. Will my darkness be broken up so easily like this? Is the thing to bring me back...the thing that has made me run?

-Kiko's POV-

I left the restaurant shortly after our food came; we kind of stuffed it into our mouths quickly. We had already made it back to our hotel room, and Tala had long since fallen asleep. 'Why does the Moon have to be RIGHT outside my window; great, now I can't sleep...and tomorrow I'm going to be so hyper...I really hope that we can beyblade tomorrow; I'm looking forward to beating every last team in this place! Then people will know my name...But, if it is international...Then we might go back to Canada...Or one of my brothers might have entered this tournament! Then I'll definitely be making sure that I don't battle.

I exhaled softly, and got up from my mahogany bed; might as well watch TV or something while I'm awake. I carefully pulled back the curtain, and muted the TV before I turned it on. I sat cross-legged in front of it, and waited for the news to come on. 'I wonder if they'll have the beyblading teams now...Would they even show that stuff this late?' I waited in silence as the news lady talked about pointless events that were happening down at the coast; who cares if the light house's light bulb burnt out? And then the 'blade statistics came on. I watched with steady eyes as the teams were listed across the screen, and then the name of a team came up; Heishi, why did that sound so familiar?

I quietly turned up the TV volume, and listened closely for the team names. "The team captain is Alvaak Soichiro," it then showed his picture; it was the same guy who had slammed the door on my face not to long ago! "His team is: Rika Sorijou," she had silver and grey hair that came down to her back, "Nobara Hakado," he had black and crimson hair that came down to his shoulders, and piercing red and black eyes, "and Lithian Suguru," no picture showed up for him. I switched off the television, and sat there blankly; there's only 1 girl on that team? She must be really strong...Alvaak...Why does he sound so familiar? I know that I met him in the lobby...But why does his name sound familiar? My eyes widened and my face grew as white as the snow; Alvaak...I know him because he...Works at the Abbey...He was the one that threw me to Viridian...He was also the one that killed Vermillion.

AN: Yes, it has been a while since I posted...The next chapter should have actual beybattling in it, but I'm not promising anything! Please review me!


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Yukai Suru (11)

**Last Time:**

I quietly turned up the TV volume, and listened closely for the team names. "The team captain is Alvaak Soichiro," it then showed his picture; it was the same guy who had slammed the door on my face not to long ago! "His team is: Rika Sorijou," she had silver and grey hair that came down to her back, "Nobara Hakado," he had black and crimson hair that came down to his shoulders, and piercing red and black eyes, "and Lithian Suguru," no picture showed up for him. I switched off the television, and sat there blankly; there's only 1 girl on that team? She must be really strong...Alvaak...Why does he sound so familiar? I know that I met him in the lobby...But why does his name sound familiar? My eyes widened and my face grew as white as the snow; Alvaak...I know him because he...Works at the Abbey...He was the one that threw me to Viridian...He was also the one that killed Vermillion.

**Continued Story:**

-Morning-

I didn't sleep the whole night; thoughts of Alvaak haunted me. 'I don't think...That I can battle him. I mean I might end up killing him...But can my team understand that?' I slowly sat up straight and gazed out at the rising Sun. Its brilliant oranges and yellows almost made me forget about last nights shock. A shudder came up my spine, and caused me to suddenly want to become unconscious; why did he have to show up now? 'Tala might start thinking that I like him or something...When it really is the opposite.' I slowly got out of bed, and wandered over towards the kitchen. I was still dressed in the same attire as yesterday because I knew that I wouldn't get any sleep.

'I need to know...I need to know why he did this to me...I need to know...' I closed my icy irises, and waited for the answer to hit me; but my waiting was truly in vain, as nothing came. It seems to me, that whenever you need your friends the most, their never there to help you. Yeah, all of mine have told me that they would never leave me; Vermilion left me, Damask left me, Rin almost left me, it feels as if Kyoko is farther away from me then she used to be, Marissa is like a fading memory, my team will soon leave me because I can't deal with Heishi; yeah, in the end everyone will end up leaving me. But, I don't need them in my life then, if they leave me, then how is that my fault? 'But you need them to survive! You need them even if they cause you pain! You love them; and that is why you set yourself up to get hurt!' The little voice inside my head shrieked at me.

"I need them now more than ever...And it seems to me that...They don't want to be with me..." I whispered softly to myself, unaware of wintry eyes watching me, and ears listening to everything I said. "If only I was normal...If only I had more courage...If only I was there for them more...If only I was stronger." I finished hoarsely. I felt tears sting the backs of my glistening tundra eyes, and hastily brushed them away with the back of my hand; what right did I have to cry? They probably have their own reasons why they cannot help me; I should just learn to cope with the fact that I'll always be alone. But, my body didn't listen, and, before long, soft sobbing sounds came forth from my mouth. Transparent tears ran down my face, and stained my pale face.

I slowly dipped into a sense of failure and remorse; why did it feel as if I held the world on my shoulders? I quickly turned on my heel as rapidly as my tears fell, and ran from the room that sheltered me from the nightmares of the day. My long, jet black, silky hair trailed behind me in such a motion that resembled that of waves. I didn't know where I was going, or how I'd get back; all I knew was that I needed to get away, to lose myself in the darkness once more.

I threw open the door leading to the outside world, and ran from the much hated hotel that made me seem like a perfect soldier; what was I even doing here? I didn't belong here, I'm not a cyber soldier, and my sanity wasn't strong enough to hold me up.

There were few up when I dashed out and onto the streets like I had done so many times before. People moved out of my way and cursed me when I passed. But none of that matters now, no, nothing matters when you're alone. 'When did this pain start to devour my soul? When did I suddenly wake up? When did I...Begin to care about me? I'm usually happy when my friends are fine; but something's changed inside of me, something that I dislike.' My steps quickened with every wavering chance thought of turning back. My breathing became laboured, and my sides stung like a thousand bees. My knees and ankles threatened to give weigh and everything in my being screamed at me to stop; but I couldn't, not yet that is. How could I stop running, when that was the only thing that I've been able to do for the past 3 months? I ran away from my family, I ran away from the memories of Vermilion and Damask, I ran away from my friends, and now I'm running away from my past. 'It's going to catch up, it's going to catch up, it's going to catch up, run faster, run faster, run away from it, leave it behind you and start 

anew! Forget them; forget them, because you are forgotten! They can replace you, they replaced you, they replaced you!'

"AAAHHH," I screamed as loud as my throat would bear. I fell to my knees, and held my head with my shaking hands. 'My mind...My mind...I'm...I'm not in control of it anymore! What's wrong with me?' A deep sense of loss and defeat enveloped me with its strong arms of pain. 'I don't know what is right and what is wrong. I don't know who to trust, and who to hate. What's wrong with me? I was fine yesterday, but now I'm swamped by these emotions of anguish.' "Why do I always feel like a failure? Why do I feel as if no one is listening? Why am I such a screw up? I get the things of my desire, and somehow I always ruin them and then I'm back where I started!" I screamed to no one in particular. Tears ran down my ghostly face, and angst ran through my body in harrowing tremors. I lowered myself so that my nose was just a few centimetres away from my knees. My body shook violently, and I forgot about the world surrounding me; I forgot about everyone and everything and focussed on the words beating me inside of my head. The delicate string that was my remaining sanity was crumbling at the light breeze that had came my way.

-A few hours later-

I had dragged myself away from the dirt road long ago, and had resigned to just wandering around aimlessly. I grew distant with myself and with life all together. Everything and everyone seemed to stop, as if everything was in slow-motion. Nothing seemed real anymore, not even my pain felt real anymore; I didn't feel real. I blocked every source of emotion within me so as to slowly rebuild my frail emotional stability. I sauntered coldly through the, now, crowded streets of down town Tokyo. 'It really wasn't fair of me to begin blaming all of my problems on my friends. I live to help them...Even if they don't know it sometimes. I love my friends and I know that they love me. Even though they place too much faith in me, they have also helped bail me out of my own darkness and made me see the end of the winding passage that encased me. They have always seen me through to the end; I'm very proud and surprised that they stayed with me for so long. Yeah, everyone can get trying every now and then; but thus is life.'

A sigh escaped my lips and I rose my head to stare into the sun in hopes that maybe I'd understand everything if I lost my sight. But, if we were supposed to know everything and understand everything, then I think we would have been born with that sense of knowledge. Not one person is meant to be alone; as we are sociable creatures. Even when we want to be introverted, in this world, no one can. We need each other to live, to learn, to become who we are meant to be. We cannot take away all of each other's pain and no one can truly know what each other is going through in terms of pain, because we are all different, and react to different pains in different ways. We can understand what we're going through, but we can never know. 'I was being daft in thinking that they weren't doing their job as friends because they didn't take away all of my pain; I was truly being idiotic there. No human can truly take away all of my pain, they can only listen. I expected them to know what I was going through and I expected them to join my pity party; when I was dead wrong. They'll never know what I'm experiencing and they shouldn't have to conform to my emotional ordeals. They need to be themselves; no one needs two versions of a single person in this world.'

The sun continued to beat down on me as I continued along with my stroll. "Hm...It's strange to see so many people out here...Wait a minute...Does that mean that there's no beyblade tournament today?" I shrugged my shoulders slightly and proceeded with my casual walk.

-A few Hours Later-

I turned back to the hotel shortly after my completed rounds of the park; my life is so very dull. Everything had been sorted out during my slow walk; maybe now I can actually sleep tonight...And now my team won't be worried. The sky above me was a brilliant pale blue, with fluffy white clouds dotting its surface. There was still a light breeze that sifted through my hair that I kept high up in my pony tail. Its dark black surface glinted from the Sun's light being shone onto it. I sighed as I continued my leisurely gait towards my hotel; gah, I hate it so.

"Hey, girl, watch it!" Someone's voice called out in unison with a boy who slammed into me. I barely moved from the impact, the only thing that moved was my feet that happened to take a single step back. The boy on the other hand, flew back and onto the hard cement surface below. A small smirk graced my lips and a menacing spark came into my bitter eyes. "Hey, man, are you okay?" The boy that yelled at me asked his fallen comrade. His yellow hair made me sick! How weak of him to ask the one that hit me if he was alright! I made a disgusted noise and carried on my way. Apparently, the yellow haired kid didn't like that, because the words that followed were not the ones of a 'happy camper'. "Let it rip! How dare you scoff at us when it was your fault that we hit you!"

I turned around just in time to see his flimsy 'blade rush towards me in an unsteady manner. "Heh...Do you honestly think that it's going to be _that_ easy to take me out? You idiot," I finished as I took out my own beyblade and 'let it rip'. The kid's terror filled eyes told me that I had made my point clear; the street was MINE. Edragore 

shredded the kid's 'blade and scattered its remnants all over the placid surface of the grey cement. Edragore seemed to be surrounded by black flame that could have easily done more damage to the yellow haired kid's 'blade if it had wanted to. However, Edragore only 'eats' the energy from 'blades if their strong.

I held out my hand, and Edragore flew back into it, almost demolishing my black, leather gloves in the process. "Maybe next time you'll think before you leap, kid "I said with much disdain. I smirked at them all, showing off my pearly white fangs. I turned my back to them, and let my trench coat flow out and swerve back towards me with the course of the wind.

Much commotion was made afterwards surrounding the area, all of which gave me no interest; what use is the pathetic and weak bladers? They have nothing to aid me in this game, and they certainly can't bring me down in any way, shape, or form.

My icicle like eyes scanned the ground's surface until I made it back to my hotel. I grasped the door's golden handle, and made my way into the lobby. Nothing in it changed, except for the fact that there was no one in the dim area. 'This is weird...Usually there is at least 1 person in this place...' A loud crashing of voices reverberated through the lobby and reached my ears fully. "Hm...I wonder what that was all about..." I dashed through the lobby and towards where I thought the sound had originated from; right in the direction of the training room. My gaze was still and set as I ran through the empty, ugly, hallways that led to the room. My iron toed boots clanged down the small corridor and my trench coat swished between my legs.

I finally reached the door leading to the training facility. There was no noise hailing from the room, but I thought that I'd check it out anyways. I clutched the door handle and pulled it open quietly. I peeked in and found the staff and various teams littering the floor of the place. They were surrounding something, or someone, and starring intently at it, but in silence. 'Why did they suddenly scream before? It's as if there's a bey battle going on...Is there?' I thought in wonderment. I inaudibly closed the door and followed suit as I crept up to the crowd.

I pushed through the crowd, and I finally came to the point where I could see exactly what everyone was starring at. My eyes widened when I realized that they weren't crowding because they were amazed or excited, but because they were afraid. My team captain, Tala, and my team mate, Bryan, had been fighting, and they laid sprawled out on the tiles of the carpet in the gym. They were each battered and bruised, Tala was bleeding, and both appeared unconscious. My eyes widened as well at the sight; what exactly happened between the two of them? I glanced up and saw a trail of ice on the ceiling and on the walls, did Tala do this?

Anger surged through me, and I turned to everyone standing in awe about the whole mess. "You people should be ashamed of yourselves! How can you just stand there and do nothing about all of this? You should all be doing your jobs," I said as I pointed vindictively at the staff, "and you should be out training!" I exclaimed as I moved my gaze over to the teams that had encircled them. There was much grumbling before it was only me and my two team mates. A great sigh escaped my lips as I turned back to face my comrades. I walked up to them softly and placed my hand on Bryan's head; yep, he was knocked out cold. I turned to Tala, and instinctively placed my hand on his chest to see if he was still breathing. His breath was laboured, but still there; good.

"Tala...Bryan...Why did you two do this? What happened and why is there ice on the ceiling and the walls?" I asked to no one in particular. I starred at them in disbelief as I kneeled in between both of them. 'Was this my fault in some way? Or did Bryan just say something stupid again? I honestly don't know...And I don't think that they're going to tell me if I asked them.' I sighed, and laid back so that I could stare up at the ceiling. 'There's not much more that I can do before they wake up...All I can do is wait.'

-Tala's POV-

-Wolborg and Tala-

'What's wrong with me now? I can't see anything...I can't feel anything. Maybe I succeeded in sealing myself away in a barrier of ice and snow. I always knew that I'd go out this way...I began as the snow, and I'd die as the snow.

_What about Kiko chan, Master Tala? I'm sure that she's worried about you. You can't be dead if I'm still here. You were probably just knocked out. _

That last statement is probably true...The first is most likely wrong. Why would she worry over a pathetic soul such as I?

_Did she not save your life before? _



Yeah she did, but that was when she needed me...

_Who says that she still doesn't need you? _

Wolborg...Drop it.

_Fine, Master Tala...Have it your way. What was the fight about anyway?_

Bryan...He found out that I too, like her...He blew up when I said that I wasn't going to tell her of my feelings. He threatened to tell her himself, so that she'd get scared off by me, and then she'd go to him. I didn't know what to do, so I beat him instead. That boy sure can fight...But I'm better.

_Don't you think that she should find out?_

No, I don't.

_But, Tala, what if she liked you, too? And the only way your ever going to find that out is if you talk to her friends, or to her directly; and, if your intent on this, and if your okay by getting this information at any cost, you could also scurge (1) in her diary. _

I can't do that, Wolborg! Have you been talking to Dranzer again?

_Heh...No...Maybe...Oh, who cares? And, why can't you? It's not like she'll know anyways...'_

-Return to Tala's POV-

I opened my eyes and realized that I was no longer dreaming. 'Maybe I should take his advice...But no...That would be wrong...Wouldn't it?' I sat up and glanced over at Bryan; he was up too. However, his cobalt blue eyes were directed at Kiko who was sleeping on the floor between us. 'Did she really sleep there? How long has she been there?' I thought calmly.

"Bryan...She cannot know of the reason why we were fighting...Not only would that blow my secret...It would blow yours, too" even if it had already been given away by himself while he was sleeping. He looked up at me with faint surprise as if he hadn't noticed my presence before. He nodded after some hesitation, which led me to conclude that he still doesn't know that she already knows about his feelings towards her.

"Yeah...Besides...Even if we did tell her, she might just have an emotional break down from it."

'Emotional break down?'

"She might start blaming herself of this fight if she found out...And then distance herself from us and the rest of the team." I nodded to the older boy, he made a point, and I got up with much struggle from the floor. Even if it was carpeted, it still hurts when you get slammed down into it. I felt as if everything was broken, and judging from the way Bryan got up, he felt the same way, too. His face twisted in a most unnatural way; I couldn't help but smirk as he showed this discomfort. 'I guess we'll both be sore tomorrow; the after-affects are always worse then the given affects.' He glared over at me with his teal eyes as he stooped down to scoop Kiko up into his arms. However, much to my enjoyment and relief, the pain he suffered was too much to endure when he attempted to lift her, so the task was up to me.

I bent down to gently lift her into my arms, only to receive a mass amount of pain in my back and arms. 'I can't let this chance be passed up...And I will not show any weakness to the likes of him or to anyone for that matter.' With much effort and agony, I had finally lifted her into my arms. I nodded to Bryan, and we both left the training area.

I glanced down at her limp form; she seemed so peaceful; it was a strange feeling to want the people on your team to actually feel peaceful...To feel vivaciousness to the highest degree. 'I've never felt this way about a person before; this is all new to me. Why do I have to feel this now of all times? I mean...The tournament is starting soon...And just when it's starting...My feelings begin to grow.' She felt so light, it was almost like she was paper; she can't be healthy...

In no time at all, we had reached the hotel room and I let her down gently on her mahogany bed. 'I hope that she feels better after this morning...I caught her crying this morning, and then she ran out into the street...'



-End of Tala's POV-

-Kiko's POV-

I opened my frosty eyes and starred up at the white ceiling above my head, 'Where am I? This doesn't feel like the hard floor of the training facility...Nor does that look like the roof of the facility...' I slowly sat up on my bed, and glanced around the area calmly. 'Well, I'm not in Kansas anymore.' I smirked at the inappropriate thought as I recalled the events of 'The Wizard of Oz' (not mine, thank goodness).

A sharp pain hit me in the head, and _his_ voice echoed within the chambers of my mind. I winced and threw the covers off of me. I quickly wandered over towards the other side of the room; I needed to get away. 'Tala...Where is Tala? Oh no, did they get into trouble while I was sleeping?'

"Oh, Kiko chan, you're up." I hurriedly turned around and found myself facing Tala.

My thoughts almost immediately drifted back to the earlier scene. "Um, Tala kun, are you and Bryan kun alright? I mean, when I-"Tala's frosty gaze quickly snapped from the wall behind me, and into my own wintry eyes. The stare in itself made my skin crawl; who knew that something that frivolous could do such a thing. I quickly looked away from the charming, scarlet haired Russian, with the captivating glacial eyes.

I closed my eyes and waited for the annoying imp to pop up and break the perpetual silence between Tala and I. Tala sighed deeply, and quietly moved over to me. "Yeah, we're both fine. But, how are you? This morning you ran out of here crying..." I abruptly looked up at him; my icy eyes were wide with an almost terrified glaze over them. I nodded slowly to him after a moment and bowed my head as he passed me. 'How did he know that?' I wandered over towards the black, leather couch and leaned against it while being in a pensive manner. I glanced up towards the ceiling once more, my frosty eyes were glazed over with a veil of worry and sadness; what else does he know about me?

A yell from my side of the room jolted me back into reality. I stood at the head of the couch and my mind raced to try and figure out who would be in there. My eyes expanded with the realization that Tala had been walking in that general direction; but why? No matter, I thought as I dashed into my room. My window was left open; the curtains were flailing in the bitter wind. I walked over to it timidly and slowly stuck my head out into the night; there was nothing there, but then why was Tala not there? 'Did he jump? Or, did somebody kidnap him? But, that's impossible, who could do that from this height?' I closed my window, and turned my back to it with a chest full of regret; maybe I missed something? I scanned my room from where I stood, and remained there till my eyes finally rested on a small, white piece of paper lying on my floor. I calmly walked over to it and bent down to pick it up.

When I read finished reading it, I immediately ran out to go find my team; Heishi took Tala kun!

What () those meant:

(11) The title means 'Kidnap' in Japanese.

(1) A scurge is something that lurks around thing; almost like how a shark goes after a school of fish, or whatever, But, it just kind of wanders around. I found it in one manga chapter of Naruto (disclaimer, not mine!) when they were describing Kisame (not mine, oh so paranoid), and I found it again while it was describing Bass/Forte (not mine), so, I believe it to be a word.

AN: Yes, I know that this was VERY late, but I was on vacation and such. It didn't help that I had major writers block! I am also aware that it is shorter than my usual chapters, but I promised one of my reviewers/readers that I'd post it as soon as I get more of it done. I mean, it's only like, 6 pages long, which isn't as bad as some of my earlier one's were, right? Remember the time when my chapters were only paragraphs? Wow, what a time...Now I'm forced to write a lot due to my overly competitive nature. There is yet a person who also writes a lot in one chapter, and it is my goal to get my chapters longer than her's! What a sad life I have. Anyway, I should wrap up this, author note, he-he. So, please excuse my corny title; I'm really not thinking right now. Anyways, now my 'plot' is getting under way! So, please review and I'll post as soon as I can. So, yes, please review, and such, bye!


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Tala RIP

**Last Time: **

A yell from my side of the room jolted me back into reality. I stood at the head of the couch and my mind raced to try and figure out who would be in there. My eyes expanded with the realization that Tala had been walking in that general direction; but why? No matter, I thought as I dashed into my room. My window was left open; the curtains were flailing in the bitter wind. I walked over to it timidly and slowly stuck my head out into the night; there was nothing there, but then why was Tala not there? 'Did he jump? Or, did somebody kidnap him? But, that's impossible, who could do that from this height?' I closed my window, and turned my back to it with a chest full of regret; maybe I missed something? I scanned my room from where I stood, and remained there till my eyes finally rested on a small, white piece of paper lying on my floor. I calmly walked over to it and bent down to pick it up.

When I read finished reading it, I immediately ran out to go find my team; Heishi took Tala kun!

**Continued Story:**

-Tala's POV-

'Wolborg, you're so stupid! Why did I listen to you in the first place? Now I'm stuck in this cage and Kiko is probably worrying about me!' A soft sigh escaped my lips as I rested casually against the metal frame of the 'cage'. It was more like a metal box that happened to smell like rotted fish. 'I always seem to make her worry over the stupidest of things...I made her worry the first time we actually talked, and I'm still making her worry. No wonder she has anxiety problems. But, maybe Bryan is right...Maybe Kiko and I are too different; I'm starting to believe that Bryan is the one for her, not me. He hasn't brought so much anxiety in her life...Not like I have.'

A sharp turn in the road caused me to slam into the other side of the casket. My head hit the side with so much force that I almost blacked out. 'Whenever I'm with her...I start to feel so different. It's like I'm not even myself anymore...Like I'm just some pained reflection of what I used to be. If I hadn't had met her, I'd be normal, I'd be fine; not this stupid little boy who seems to never have a decent night's sleep.'

Just then, I began to hear voices above my own thoughts; I decided to listen into their conversation:

"Okay, Rika sama, calm down. So you didn't get that unintelligent lass, you did get that traitorous leader; Boris will be just as happy as he is surprised!" A raspy voice said to a female sitting beside him.

"Yes, but when it's all said and done, I'll still get whipped for this miscalculation. Oh, Nobara san...What it must feel like to not be tied down to this organization...To be free of that man's grasp...?" A solemn voice replied to the other raspy one.

"Stop speaking of this foolishness; it'll never happen, so you'd better stop dreaming and wake up."

"But, Nobara san, look at what the Demolition Boys did! They almost got away...If it weren't for that scheming girl they wouldn't be in this mess..."

"Rika sama, you know that Boris would have gone after them one way or another. Yes, they made it this far, but their personalities are warped, they don't even know _what_ they are, never mind _who_ they are. Their dreams, or nightmares, are probably filled with images of Boris; they probably keep the same schedule for training that they were on when they were in the Biovolt Abbey, do you really call that being free? And yes, if it weren't for that brainless lass, they would've gotten farther away from their 'roots'."

I moved over slightly to try and get a picture of what they were doing; it worked like a charm. From where I sat, I could tell that the girl had long, silver hair that floated down to the middle of her back; it was tied up much like Kiko's hair was. Her crimson eyes were set forward; much like my eyes were when I was in the Abbey...

The one named Rika nodded slightly to her other as he drove past many unfamiliar buildings. "But, Nobara san...It's not fair that they have to suffer so much just because of one pathetic being. What makes her so important anyways?"



Nobara quickly glanced over towards Rika, the silver beauty, and just as quickly returned his gaze back to the streets, "Rika sama, I have been told less of her importance than you. But, from what I could gather from Lithian, she is supposed to be stronger than that of Valkov sama." Now it was Rika's turn to glance over at Nobara; her glance made it perfectly clear that she hadn't known that information. "So, it's possible that if you had attacked Wieler sama...She would have killed you...You were most likely just a pawn in Boris' game."

Rika nodded and resumed staring out of the window at the desolate place surrounding the truck; 'why did they not refer to their other partner as 'Lithian san', or, 'Lithian sama'?' I thought as I rested against the walls again. 'That is somewhat strange since they even used their enemies' names honourably.

'But, if they're after Kiko chan...Will they come again for her? What did she do that was so upsetting? Come to think of it, a few days after we had let her stay with us, Boris came to our house and demanded that we come with them. She didn't seem to know what was going on...But was it just an act? Is she hiding something that is too horrible for her to even tell me?' I sighed softly and closed my frostic eyes, 'look at me, not even a day in this cell and I'm already thinking that Kiko chan is the cause for all of this...Kiko chan and Bryan san would be better than Kiko and I could ever be.'

-Kiko's POV-

"Bryan!" I called frantically as I ran through the hotel in a blind run. 'Where are they right when I need them?' I skidded to a halt when I saw a breathless Spencer kun crouching down behind a wall. 'Are they playing hide-and-go-seek? Wow, I'd never imagine them playing that, not even Ian kun would do such a stupid thing!'

I quickly made my way over to him in hopes that he knew where Bryan kun was. "Spen-"I was cut short by Spencer kun's big hand covering my mouth. He then pulled me down to where he was sitting.

"Keep quiet; there's something...Someone not right here...I'll explain it to you later, but for now, please just follow me and stay silent!" I nodded to him and he released his iron grip on my mouth. 'He's never acted like this before...I wonder what's spooked him so badly.'

He got up from where he was seated and dragged me by my hand over to the opposite wall. He instinctively took out his revolver. He held it at arms length, as if he was waiting for someone to jump out and shoot. I desperately wanted to speak up, but his words echoed in my mind. '"follow me and stay silent!"' He has never acted so much like Tala before now...Something must be wrong.

He gently took my arm again and led me back to the hotel room. He rapidly shut the door behind us and turned to face me. "Kiko chan...Where's Tala sama?"

"I...He...He was kidnapped..." Spencer closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. He quietly walked over to the window with me right on his heels. "Spencer kun...What's wrong?"

He exhaled and turned to me again "Bryan san and Ian san are in the same situation as Tala sama is now..." My eyes widened as it dawned on me; Spencer and I had to go and liberate the rest of our team. Spencer and I didn't always get to go on adventures together like this; I often wonder why...

Spencer kept busy by peering out of the window of my side of the room, and he kept his gun raised above his waist. I crouched beside him as I waited for the 'okay' to speak again. Eventually, he stood up again and turned to face me once more. "Kiko chan...I know that Boris is somehow behind this. Did you see anything around where Tala sama stood that could place where he could have been taken to?"

"No, I didn't see anything that would make it easy to find him...But, what about that new team, Heishi?"

"We're leaving them alone," was all that Spencer kun stated before he turned away from me, yet again.

"But, why? It's not like we don't have a reason to not suspect them. We need to find the rest of our team. I mean, Tala sama must be driving himself crazy! You know how he is..." Spencer kun moved to glance at me again before returning his gaze back to the window.

"Kiko chan...I don't know if you haven't noticed this but, Tala sama isn't close to anybody. We don't know 'how he is' and we never will. It has always been that way; it's hard enough to deal with our own issues, nevertheless deal with whatever may be going on inside of Tala's head! None of us care about each other, especially Tala; Tala doesn't even know our last names! If he weren't so...Frightening, I'm sure that we'd leak out the information about his genetics..."



'His genetics? What does he mean by that? Tala's normal...Right?' I lowered my gaze slightly so as to be lost in a world of my own; if Spencer kun speaks the truth...Then how could I ever hope that Tala would ever like me back?

Tala's POV

I craned my neck just as more grumbling from my captors reached my ears; what were they saying now?

"Rika sama...Alvaak sama just contacted me...Hey, are you even listening to me?" I heard a grunt from Rika as I winced from the sound of flesh hitting against flesh; he didn't have to slap her.

"Yes, yes, I'm up, Nobara san!" She sounded annoyed with her partner, if she could even call him that.

"Look, I'm tired, too. Don't make the mistake that you're the only one Boris is keeping awake!" Rika mumbled something more, but it seems as if Nobara was tired of arguing. "Rika sama, Alvaak sama just called and he told me that Boris was 'displeased' with us. He wants us to dump this load of trash," he said while motioning with his thumb towards me, "and return as soon as possible. Lithian said that it would be a beneficial idea to knock him out with something before we throw him to the streets. He also told us to give the same orders to the rest of Boris' peons that got the rest of that detestable Neoborg; those traitorous dolts!" With that, he pulled over to the side of the road and spit out of his window. "What a pain...But, this is the price for getting a roof over our heads."

I saw Rika nod and heard them both sigh. "Well, we'd better get this over with..." with the last comment made, both Nobara and Rika jumped out of the truck and slammed the doors shut. 'Who do they think they're dealing with? I'm the source of envy for most of the Biovolt Abbey, and they honestly think that they can overpower me? What foolishness...No wonder they're looked down upon.'

I waited patiently for the two idiots to swing the doors open. Low mumbling noises radiated from the outside of the iron doors, the noise seemed to penetrate the back of the truck. 'Well, won't they be surprised...' I thought as images of what cruel things I could do to them raced through my mind.

Soon, Nobara swung the doors of the truck open, the hinges on the doors creaked and groaned as they were pulled from their resting place. Once there was enough light to illuminate Nobara and Rika, I lunged out at them with a loud yell. I landed on Nobara's chest and ploughed my fist into the man's jaw. He cried out in surprise from my own attack; Rika just stood by and watched her accomplice get beaten.

Something other than just anger rushed into my being and seemed to digest my soul greedily. All I saw was scarlet, and all I cared about was seeing this man fall to my hands. I continued to bludgeon Nobara's face with my fist until he 'woke up' and slammed his head into my forehead. I was taken aback from the sudden force that forced me back. I hit the rear bumper of the truck and glared at him callously.

"Heh, you think that you're all that because Boris deemed you the 'best' in all of Russia? Bah," he spat on the ground near me, "you, you're nothing without your bit beast!" An utter most hatred surged through me like never before. It felt like a C4 bomb blew up inside of me, sending all of my emotions hay-wire.

With a raucous yell, I jumped up from where I fell; Nobara quickly followed, and I easily swung my fist into his stomach. He retaliated by grabbed my other arm and throwing me onto the street. "You know...I was going to let you go...But maybe we should just finish you off!" He reached to his back pocket, and drew his switch blade. 'This guy's insane...'

"You're going to use that piece of scrap metal against me? You're more of a fool than I thought you were; such a disappointment." I seemed to hit a nerve there because he suddenly rushed at me and he thrust the small knife into my side. At the same moment, I landed a blow to his jaw. He quickly moved his leg to trip me, and used his other hand to dig the blade deeper into my skin. I fell onto the ground heavily, and with the added force of my body falling, the knife was then dragged across my side till it found the end of my body.

I almost immediately grabbed where my wound was, and watched as Nobara licked the end of the blade. He grinned devilishly and spat out the blood from the cut he made on his tongue. I returned the smirk and tripped him so that he was on the same level as I.

With much determination, I managed to get up from the ground and proceeded to smash his face in with every ounce of strength I could find. By the time Rika sama ran up to us to try and pull us apart, Nobara's face was dotted with patches of blood. I forcibly pushed her away and got down again to finish Nobara off. But, I tried a different approach this time; I wrapped my hands around his skinny little neck and squeezed his neck till his face 

turned blue. A maniacal laughter resounded from my lips, and an almost inhuman feeling over came me once more. That's when everything turned black and red.

By the time I 'woke up' from my dream world, the other two had already left, and I was lying on the ground, breathing heavily. There was blood all around my still body and skid marks on the road where the truck used to be. I glanced around and noticed the different colors of blood surrounding me. 'Why are there two shades of blood...?' Alarm screamed through my body when I looked down at the river of thick crimson liquid pouring from my side. It was the same dark shade of red that stained the cement surface below me.

'I need to get out of here...But...I don't even know where I am...' I slowly got up from the ground and managed to move one foot in front of the other. I focussed entirely on that motion; no other thoughts circled around me, I had no strength left for that privilege.

-Rika and Nobara-

"Agh that SOB!" Nobara screamed as he twitched every time Rika sama tried to clean his wounds.

"Hold still will you? It's only a few minor wounds...At least he didn't pull his gun out on you." Rika's stern voice commanded as her co-worker winced every time she dabbed at his wounds. In all honesty, Nobara looked like he had just been run over by a pick up truck on the free way. 'Tala sure did a number on him...I'd hate to fight him when he's 100,' Rika thought sullenly.

"Nobara, Rika, you have been sloppy," the dark voice reached every ear in the room, and sent shivers up everyone's spines as they sat very still. The plague was better to have than having _him_ around. Alvaak Soichiro walked silently into the room. His cold, sable eyes seemed to see through everyone as if they were mere ghosts.

"A-Alvaak sama, I'm sorry for being sloppy! It will not happen again," Rika stuttered as she stood up from where she sat. Nobara followed her and made no sound so as to signify his pain. Alvaak continued to approach the two; his face held no emotion that could give a clue as to what he was planning to do to them next.

"Rika, you disobeyed me...Again. You have let me down...Again." He raised his hand and hit her across the face, sending her flying across the room. "I can guarantee that you won't mess up again...Because you probably won't survive to get another chance to redeem yourself!" The leader of Heishi left the room after that. As soon as he was out of sight, two burly men came in and dragged Rika out. She didn't even try to protest, as she knew that it would only make her punishment worse. She knew that she'd be locked up in the same room as she always was, she'd be whipped as many times as she always was, she'd be told the same evil things that she always heard, and she knew that Alvaak would be watching her pain with his unfeeling black eyes, and smirking faintly whenever she looked his way. She knew all of this, and yet she dared not leave, because she also knew that if she ran away, then she'd be hunted just like Tala, the Ice Soldier.

-Kiko's POV-

We already came across Bryan and Ian, they seemed almost...Stoned. Spencer and I continued on the same path as we had been before; if we found Bryan and Ian, we were bound to find Tala, too. 'I hope that he's not stoned; it might be hard to get him to come with us if he is...Bryan almost killed Spencer when he tried to 'talk' to him 'peacefully'.'

"Spencer san...Do you think it was wise to chain them up and leave them in that ditch?" I inquired to the giant walking beside me. Spencer's gloved hand remained at his side in case he needed to shoot someone.

He looked down at me with his stern, teal eyes. "I'm pretty sure they were high...Bryan doesn't randomly sing in the middle of no where...If Tala asks anything as to why we chained them up and threw them in a ditch...Just blame it on the imp." The corners of his mouth turned upwards somewhat, but what the little smirk proved to be transient, as within the next moment, it disappeared once more. "That is...If Tala's alive to ask..."

A despondent mood swept over us as swiftly as the sunrise showers us with its golden rays in the morning. 'If he is alive to ask? They couldn't have killed him...Could they? But, they let Bryan and Ian go, why wouldn't they let Tala go? This isn't helping our search...Oh please, let Tala be alive!' I thought with a heart full of regret, 'why did I have to go into the other room? Why didn't I hear anything? Why did I let them take him away from me?!'

Spencer sighed as we continued to walk in search of our infamous leader. His face showed anything but happiness, but his eyes, his normally calm eyes, resembled that of a hurricane. His hands were tightly clenched at his sides, and his feet landed heavily on the deserted cement road.



-Tala's POV-

Pain surged through me like nothing has before. It felt like a million lightening bolts hit me every second, every time I moved. Sweat dripped down my forehead steadily now, but I'm starting to think that it isn't sweat, blood. I wavered with every step I took, and I was slowly losing feeling in all parts of my body. 'I can't remember anything...Where am I? Where's Kiko, did they take her too? What time is it?' I looked up tiredly at the midnight sky and wished that I could be one of those stars, so that Kiko would never leave my sight.

My leg buckled and I fell forward, only to painfully get up again. My vision was blurry, and I barely sensed the hard surface below me. 'Am I dying? I can't...I can't die without telling her...Without telling Kiko that I love her...I love her? Since when was that an appropriate emotion for me? It doesn't matter anymore...I'm dying...Whatever he put on the edge of that blade...It sure...Has...-'

I collapsed onto the cement ground below me and laid there in a pool of my own blood. My body and mind became numb. I couldn't see anything anymore. No longer could I hear anything, no longer could I get up. 'Is this really the end? I'm sorry...I'm sorry...Kiko, Bryan, Spencer, Ian, Kai...I'm sorry...For everything...I'm sorry...' I closed my eyes for the last time, and breathed slowly till I couldn't breathe anymore.

-Kiko's POV-

"Spencer, I see something! It could be Tala, hurry up!" I yelled over my shoulder as I ran quickly towards the still figure in the middle of the road. I sprinted as fast as I could over to the silent shape. As I got closer, I realized that it was Tala, my Red Wolf.

I skidded to a stop on my knees as I knelt beside my captain, "Tala! No, Tala, you have to wake up!" I screamed at the lifeless body lying on the ground in front of me. Crystal tears streamed down my face as I gently lifted up his head and rolled his body over cautiously. Panic flooded through me as I placed my hand to his cold lips; he was still breathing! "Spencer, hurry up! Tala's alive, but he's slowly leaving me!" I called to him over my shoulder once more. I turned my attention back to Tala and watched him with transparent tears flowing steadily down my face. The liquid pouring from my eyes landed onto Tala's ghostly pale face. I gently lifted his head onto my lap and waited impatiently for Spencer to come. "It'll be okay, Tala. Don't leave me, don't leave me. I love you..." I whispered to him softly.

"I'm here, Kiko chan," Spencer said breathlessly as he came up from behind me. My crystalline eyes never left Tala's face as he continued, "it looks as if he was poisoned...Probably where all of that blood is gushing out. Kiko, you have to keep him breathing, I don't care how, just do it!" I nodded to him slowly, and for the first time, I glanced up at Spencer as he turned his attention to our leader's many wounds.

Spencer quickly took out a white cloth from his jacket (they got some medical supplies before they left the hotel room). He roughly wrapped it around Tala's side, and then he turned to the other areas where there was a blood flow. For those, he used strips from his shirt and wrapped them up.

He sighed greatly and then stood up. "Kiko, you have to get up now. We have to take him back immediately. I'll carry him," I reluctantly stood up and watched silently as Spencer lifted Tala into his arms. 'Tala...Please be alright...I never want to lose you...I never want this tournament to end...Because when it does...So is our relationship...It's all going to end...And then I'm going to lose you...I love you, Tala. I don't care if Spencer says that you will never love anyone...I believe that you can...' I thought as I followed Spencer hastily. My eyes often wandered over towards Tala's limp form; it scared me to think of him lying in the bottom of a coffin...It scared me even more to think that this could be his last day. New tears painted my face as we fast-walked towards our hotel.

A few hours later (at the hotel)

I waited anxiously for the BBA paramedics to be finished with Tala. I paced back and forth down the hallway near the training facility. 'Why is it taking so long? Even Bryan and Ian are taking much longer than I thought they would! I hope everything is okay...I hope that Tala-'Before I could finish off my thought, new tears sprang from my eyes and streamed down my face silently.

I sat with my knees to my chest against the wall and buried my face into my knees. My hands locked onto my elbows as they went through the space between the floor and my legs. 'He's dead...Tala's dead...I just know it...he's dead!' I cried for a while before I had nothing left to cry. My eyes were red and puffy, and my stomach often growled. I couldn't care less about my hunger or what I looked like; what was the point?

-Kiyoko's POV-



I watched intently as Kiko cried silently into her knees. 'I wish I could do something to help her...But I can't...' Despair washed over me as I stared at her with my amethyst eyes. 'I heard that Tala was hurt...But I never expected it to be that bad...' I quietly got up from where I crouched and walked inaudibly towards my friend. I quietly sat beside her and, eventually, placed my arm around her in an attempt to comfort her. But, it seemed to only make things worse, because she began to cry once more.

"It'll be okay, Kiko chan...Tala sama will be okay, I just know it," I said soothingly to her. My black cat ears twitched as her stomach growled again. 'I guess she's too worried to eat...I'd be the same way if any of my friends got hurt...Or if Kai got hurt...' I sat silently beside her and waited for the news from the medics that were currently taking care of Tala.

"I-I didn't...I didn't even...Get to tell him how I feel..." Kiko whispered hoarsely through her tears. I squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, but she turned to me and buried her face into my shoulder. "I-It was my f-fault that this happened...I-I should have m-made him come with m-me! I couldn't f-find him fast enough, and now he's dying because of me!" I gazed at her with soft, violet eyes. Nothing I could say could help to ease her pain, now. I was suddenly wracked with emotions of guilt as I realized that I couldn't help her when she needed me the most. I couldn't even begin to imagine how she felt as she cried into my shoulder. 'We can only wait and hope for the best...We can only wait and pray that he survives.'

Later -Kiko's POV-

I had stopped crying a while ago, but I never lifted my head from Kiyoko's shoulder. The sound of the opening and closing of a door not too far away brought me back to reality; a reality I would much rather forget about. I sighed gently and raised my head in the direction of the approaching foot steps. It was a man in a white coat with splashes of blood on it. He worse white gloves that looked like they were dunked in a pool of blood.

He reached us just as we managed to scramble to our feet. Kiyoko kept on looking at me nervously as we waited for the update on my team. He tugged off his gloves and began to speak, "well, Kuznetsov san and Papov san are doing great. They were drugged with some sort of unknown medicine, but whoever did it to them didn't give them an overdose." Some of the earlier anxiety disappeared from me when I learned this, but it was only replaced with something else: why did he start off by telling me of them? Were we too late for Tala? Worry creased my face as Kiyoko and I waited uneasily for the report on Tala.

"As for the Valkov san...He's alive. We got the poison out just in time," happiness and relief filled me up as I smiled at my friend. I hugged her tightly and began to cry, but these were happy tears this time. "If he recovers as quickly as he is known for, he should be able to beyblade in the tournament. Just, make sure that he doesn't overexert himself, okay?" We nodded in unison up at the man in the bloody coat, "we'll discharge him tomorrow, but you can go see him now, if you want." I nodded almost immediately after he said those words. I followed him quickly with Kiyoko trailing after me.

He led us over to a curtained off area and left us to make the decision to open it or not. Before I went in, I quickly hugged Kiyoko once more, "thank you, Kiyoko. I owe you so much...Thank you for staying with me," I smiled at her and wiped my tears away.

"You're welcome, Kiko. I was happy to wait here for you. Now, come on, let's go see them." She smiled brightly at me and then she parted the curtain for me to enter, "I'll let you go in first, I'm sure you have lots to talk about with him. I'll wait out here," I nodded to her and walked in silently.

"Tala...?" I asked gently as I walked over towards the bed with my team captain lying in it. His head moved slightly and as I came closer, our eyes met simultaneously. A small smile stretched across his lips when he saw me loom over him, "How are you?"

He moved slightly so that he could sit up. "I'm fine...Now that you're here..." I tilted my head slightly when he said this, but forgot about it quickly. Nothing else was said between us, nothing else was necessary. 'He's alive...That's all that matters...He's alive...' I thought happily as I sat beside him and watched him go back to sleep. 'He looks so peaceful...I wonder if he'd notice...If I...If I-'I cautiously held his hand in mine and, eventually, fell asleep in the chair beside him.

The next day

The Sun glinting through the window made my eyes twitch until I opened them, revealing my icy irises. I glanced around my room; everything seemed to be in the same place as they had been the previous night. 'Wait, why am I 

in my bed, in my room? Where's Tala?!' I threw the blankets off of me and I jumped out of bed. My hair was down, and I was in the same cloths that I wore last night.

I walked over towards my mirror beside my bed and gazed into it intently. 'What in the world...?' I shrugged slightly and opened my drawer. I took out my brush and began to fix my hair up; it looked like it hadn't been brushed in 2 days, which was partly true.

As soon as I fixed my hair and placed it back into a pony tail, I tip-toed into the other room; it was quiet even though the whole team was there. Spencer looked up from the table and made his way over to me. "The doctors found you and Tala sama asleep at his bedside, so they didn't disturb you. So, we just brought you back up from the medical ward." So it wasn't just a nightmare; it really did happen.

I nodded to him and stood awkwardly in the room. Tala was looking straight at me as soon as I came into the room; did he want something? "Oh, and I think Tala sama wants to see you," Spencer said with a little grin on his face. The giant then retreated back to where he was before. I blushed faintly and walked over towards Tala; he was sitting on his bed reading.

"Hi...Kiko chan...Thank you for staying with me..." I smiled and nodded to him. I stood beside him calmly and watched him smile faintly at me. He then moved over slightly and grabbed my hand gently. My wintry eyes widened as he pulled me down to sit with him. And, once again, I blushed. Unfortunately, everyone saw it, too.

Spencer's deep throated laugh was the first to reach my ears. "Wow, you sure can turn a brilliant color of red when you want to!" Everyone began to laugh at that comment, including me. As soon as everyone stopped laughing, Tala began to read with me beside him.

-Later that day-

I collapsed onto my bed after we had finished training for the day. 'Why did we have to train anyways? I mean, even Tala practised! I can't imagine that being good for him, or for Bryan and Ian,' I thought without noticing a note beside my bed. By the time I did notice it, I was already getting into bed.

'What's this...? I don't remember waking up with this near my head! If it's something about me blushing I'm going to kill Ian!' Nonetheless, I reached over and opened the folded piece of paper. My eyes widened again: it was from Heishi! It read:

_Dear Kiko Wieler,_

_As you can probably already guess, Boris is the one behind our little team. We know that you have connections with Boris, and we know where you got Edragore from. We're going to come back to finish off your precious leader, Russia's Cyber Soldier. If you don't want to get killed, I suggest that you lose your next match in the tournament, because you have no hope to ever beat us. Viridian helped us a great deal in finding your weaknesses. But, if it wasn't for Alvaak...We could never have even hoped to finally catch you, Ryu Kaze!_

_-Lithian Suguru _

AN: Well, this seemed like such a short chapter to me...Oh, well. Thank you to all you have reviewed, posted as one of your favourites, and added Russian Blader on your alert list! I am so, sorry that this chapter took so long to post up; homework and writers block, it truly does add up. I'm going to put a disclaimer notice...NOW!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shiki from Togainu no Chi.

AN Cont: Uh, sorry about that. But, Shiki is what I based Alvaak on; but I had no idea till two days ago! So, now you know what Alvaak looks like. But, Alvaak is not gay! Alvaak is not Shiki, Shiki is just the person that I based Alvaak from. So, Alvaak himself, is mine. Alvaak looks like Shiki, but Alvaak doesn't have the same personality as Shiki. So, yes, he-he! Aw, I was reading Tala's POV thing, again, and I was like: "should I let him die?" But then I thought, 'naa'. Anyways, I should get to work on my next chapter! All of Heishi are mine, so please do not copy them. I'm not sure when my next chapter will be up, hopefully soon! As soon as I figure out what's going to be in it...Review me, please, I miss those things...Anyways, Bye!


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Heishi

**Last Time:**

_Dear Kiko Wieler,_

_As you can probably already guess, Boris is the one behind our little team. We know that you have connections with Boris, and we know where you got Edragore from. We're going to come back to finish off your precious leader, Russia's Cyber Soldier. If you don't want to get killed, I suggest that you lose your next match in the tournament, because you have no hope to ever beat us. Viridian helped us a great deal in finding your weaknesses. But, if it wasn't for Alvaak...We could never have even hoped to finally catch you, Ryu Kaze!_

_-Lithian Suguru _

**Continued Story:**

That Night

Why did he have to send me that note? I know that my team is going to be pretty upset with me for this, that is if they find out. I never knew how hard it was to sneak out of a room full of sleeping men; let me tell you this, it's very hard, and it's even harder when they all have characteristics from their bitbeasts. 'I swear I think Tala heard me; Wolborg must have heightened his senses to equal those of a wolf. Bryan might have opened his eyes when he heard Tala stir, and because Falborg is a falcon, Bryan could have seen me. Spencer doesn't worry me that much; what can whales do? Ian is a deep sleeper, so I doubt that he heard me.' I thought as I crashed through the thick bushes that surrounded the 'new abbey'.

I remained still and craned my neck so as to hear better; if there were guards around this place like in Moscow, then I was never going to get into the abbey this way. 'Maybe I should have waited for them to wake up...But, they probably wouldn't let me go.'

I heard some movement in the area I was trying to enter, but it seemed as if there was only one person prowling around; I could take them. I slowly made my way through the tangled mess of branches and low lying plants. Every time I moved forward, I would stop and listen to see if they found my position. Everything around me was either black or glowing from the moon's light.

In what seemed like forever, I was almost out of the dense forest climate and closer to the answers my heart so desired. 'How did they find out about my connections with Boris? How do they know where Edragore came from? Viridian...How does a corpse aid them in finding my weaknesses?' I shook my head in an attempt to rid my head of such foolish thoughts; I should just be happy that they don't know why I'm the only one that can control Edragore.

I calmly placed my foot out onto the dry ground that belonged to Boris Balkov. I waited ever so silently for something to come flying at me. No one came to attack the lone foot that dared place itself on their ground; the nerve of said foot. 'Okay, nothing has shot me yet...I must be safe...' I cautiously placed my other foot onto the ground and urged myself forward. A sigh of relief exited my mouth as I basked in the glow of the moon. But, my mood was quickly dashed when the head of a gun rested on the small of my back. I dared to glance over my shoulder when I realized that unless I wanted them to know more about me, I'd have to use Tala's gun.

What surprised me the most when I looked back was that it was a badly beaten girl who looked around the age of 17 or 18, at any rate; she was clearly older than me. The moon cast its light onto her hair, making its silvery surface hard to look at without going blind. "What are _you_ doing here, Miss Wieler?" Her voice was filled with such remorse that it made my skin crawl as her voice reached my ears.

"I came here for answers, nothing else" my voice held so little emotion in it that even she was taken aback. But she quickly recollected and took up a defensive position. I'm pretty sure her eyes were just as unfeeling as my voice was, but I couldn't tell due to her bangs covering her face. "Go away you pathetic excuse for a soldier, you cannot win against me."

The corners of her mouth rose into that of a devilish smile. "So, you think you're all that just because the Ice Soldier decided to take an interest in you? Bah, you're nothing more than a childish fan-girl." She stepped back and reached down into her pocket to retrieve a polished object. It was her beyblade. "Let me tell you a few things before I send you to your grave. Our team, Heishi, all have bit powers, much like your team does. We even have 

the same TYPE of creatures that your team has." Another one of her trade mark smirks creased her pale face. "Well, that's about all the time you have to live, good bye now!" As she said this she brought up her own hand gun and aimed for me. However, I wasn't as dumb as she suspected, as I drew Tala's more powerful weapon and pulled the trigger on it.

The explosion resounded throughout the still night. Smoke poured out from the front of the gun; what on earth does he put in this thing? When the 'smoke' cleared, I apprehended that it wasn't smoke; it was loose dirt that moved when the bullet shot out from the weapon. My eyes trailed up from where the dirt was to the person that I shot. Her bright crimson eyes were wide from terror as she quickly grabbed her arm; there was a red increasing stain on her white shirt in the area where the bullet entered.

My hand dropped and I replaced the object back into my pocket. 'Did she think that I came unprepared; how foolish on her part.' I casually walked towards her and stood silently in front of her for a few moments before I spoke, "forget this night...But know this, I will not be throwing the next match...I'll win it." I hurriedly darted out of there and sprinted back to my hotel. 'What'll happen now that she knows that I'm not afraid of harming them? She might tell her team captain or Boris, in which they might come after us using even more brutish tactics than before.'

Hotel

I quietly closed the door behind me and tip-toed back to my own corner of the room. 'Oh, shoot, I still have Tala's gun! I wonder if he checks his pants for this firearm. Maybe I should go and put this back...But I've already caused so much noise...They'd surely wake up this time around. I'd better just hide his gun in the bathroom or something...Then he'd think that it was just misplaced! Yes, I am a true genius.' With the last thought said, I inaudibly went back to their side of the room and quietly walked into the bathroom.

The gun clacked against the hard glossy surface of the bathroom counter. The mirror looked different now then it did the other day; I'm sure it's probably nothing, though. The mirror had a piece missing from the right bottom corner. It looked as if someone had purposely cut it out of the reflective piece of glass, but that was impossible. One: how would they do that? And two: why would anyone do that? The thought was quickly pushed aside to the back of my mind; a memory long forgotten.

A soft sigh passed between my lips as my reflection danced in the glass before me. My hand instinctively clutched to the counter top as I felt my body sway once more. 'What's wrong with me? I feel as if I'm drunk or something...' I thought just before I felt my legs give weigh beneath me. My head hit the side of the hard surface before I blanked out.

-In the Morning-

I groaned tiredly as my wintry eyes slowly opened. I gazed around the area in a pathetic attempt to figure out why I was in the bathroom, and on the floor no less. My head pounded when my memories finally decided to show up; I was here just to place Tala's gun on the counter, but then I fainted and hit my head...'I'm so glad that they haven't found me yet! Imagine what they'd think? I don't even want to think of that possibility...'

My muscles ached as I slowly lifted myself up from the floor and managed to stand, well, more like lean against the counter and hope for the best. My reflection no longer swayed like it had the night before 'probably just a fluke or something...' Even though I felt fine, I still kept a firm hold on the counter top. 'Argh, I need to get out of here and make sure that Neoborg is still asleep, so why am I still here?' I thought as I calmly shook my head in an attempt to get rid of the events from the night before.

My legs began to move, even if a snail could beat me to the door right now. I reached out and took the handle into my hands. My body still shook, but other than that, I appeared normal. I quietly pushed the door open and stuck my head out of the door way. My frostic eyes scrutinized the room with a hawk's intensity as it searched the ground for its prey; no one was awake yet. I nodded faintly to myself and left the safety of the restroom. My small form easily got past the curtain noiselessly.

Once I was in my room, I immediately threw the contents of my suitcase out and decided to find my outfit for the day; wasn't it the tournament today? 'Man, if it is the tournament today...I really hope that we're not blading.' I stopped when I realized that I had thrown everything out of my bag. 'What should I wear today...Maybe something that sends chills down everyone's spines when their eyes stray from the ground to glance up at me.' I sat contently on the floor and gazed at all of my clothes lying on the ground, that dirty grey carpet.



"I might as well decide what I'm wearing now...And go shopping for more clothes later..." 'Why...Do I feel so solemn...Even though I should be ecstatic...Why...?' I couldn't shake the feeling as it made its way through me like a lightening bolt. The shock that was not meant for eternity seemed as such before I did manage to suppress it.

Later On

My gelid eyes never strayed from Tala's back; was I afraid of having Heishi find us again? No, certainly not, what an asinine idea. My footsteps seemed heavier than normal and my eyes especially heartless today, not that I ever showed feeling unless I was with my team. I continued walking with Bryan and Spencer calmly; Tala took up the lead and Ian ran around like a spoiled brat. 'I hate to say this, but if it wasn't for that imp, I'm pretty sure that our team wouldn't be here...There has to be at least one annoying person per group that everyone likes to pick on because they didn't matter much (I'm sorry for that statement to all of the Ian fans out there). Yeah, the little midget's antics do get under our skin, but it was better than killing ourselves with worry.'

We were headed to the tournament today, and if luck was on our side, we wouldn't have to 'blade. 'The less we see of Heishi the better, that is if they do decide to show' I thought nervously. Spencer often looked down at me with his mysterious grey eyes as we marched down the side walk. The Sun shone brightly as it peaked above the buildings in this bitter morning. 'Why does he continue to look in my direction? Its not as if he's my body guard or something, even though I'm pretty sure that Tala told him to keep an eye on me.'

In almost no time at all, we stopped in front of the tall glass doors of the BBA. Tala motioned for Bryan, Spencer and Ian to go on, but put out his hand when I tried to go with them. Bryan cast one last glance at me before he disappeared behind those doors, leaving me and the proud Russian captain outside, and alone. We remained in silence for a while, and then he broke it, "Kiko chan...I know that...You were worried about me when I was captured by Heishi, but you don't have to worry about us here." Upon seeing the doubt written on my face, he continued "the doctors said that I was fine to beyblade...But, I can see that you trust them as far as you can throw them, which probably isn't very far, but you have to trust me on this then, okay?" His voice was soft and gentle as he spoke to me quietly in front of the entrance.

The uncertainty didn't leave my face as he waited for me to reply to him. Actually, I think my anxiety got worse. "Tala...I can't trust that you on that..." My voice was just barely above a whisper, but his sharp ears caught what I said. He cast me such a hurt and irritated glance that I looked away quickly after he shot it at me. "I-I'm sorry, Tala! But, I can't trust you with that because I know that you're too proud to stand down from a fight when you know all too well that you can't take anymore!" My shrill voice rose considerably now, so much that people across the road glanced over towards us.

"Honestly, Kiko, you have no idea how much pain I can handle..." his accented voice dropped to a dangerous volume "because you never bother to listen to anybody...You never bothered yourself with the 'troublesome' task of getting to know us...You've only ever thought of yourself, and not of what others think of you." He hissed into me ear and left me standing there; why had he said that? His retreating footsteps were the only sounds he left me with as he entered the building after the rest of Neoborg.

I had little time to contemplate on why he said that before I saw the members of Heishi make their way towards the building before me. Their attire really was spectacular. Their leader, Alvaak Soichiro, had on his regular outfit (see chapter 33 for his outfit), one of the other two men on his team, Nobara Hakado, strode a few paces behind their 'brilliant' leader, and a girl that looked familiar walked far behind them both. Alvaak stopped when they were just a few feet away from me; what did they want now?

"Wieler...Rika told me your answer...I must say that I'm greatly disappointed...I didn't want to be the one to kill you." His cold, low voice was frightening, so very frightening, and so very dangerous. I wanted Tala to return, but I knew that he wouldn't; I was on my own. I didn't allow my fear to show up on my face or creep into my crystalline eyes, no, because that would be weakness, which would give Tala another reason to be angry with me. "I hope that you and your team don't battle us today...Because if you don't...Then you still have enough time to rethink your answer." Alvaak whispered and brushed past me to continue on his way, as if I and our conversation never existed.

The one named Nobara curled up his lips as he past me and 'accidentally' pushed me aside even though there was clearly enough room to get past me without grazing my body. When the girl past me, I remembered how I recognized her face; it was the same girl that I had shot the other night. She glared at me through her silver bangs with such hatred that even Kai's glares could be out-matched by it. Her blood red eyes seemed to burn on hatred alone, as if that was her sole reason for being alive, just so that she could kill me.

A sigh of relief passed through my slightly parted lips when they finally left me. 'Why do they hate me so much? It's not as if we've met before, and I definitely didn't do any wrong against them. What's Tala going to think if he 

finds out what I did last night? He's going to flip...And I'll have to use an honorific again...Bryan kun might not trust me anymore...Spencer will most likely ignore me and act as if I was never his friend...I'm pretty sure that Ian's just going to follow Spencer's example.'

I quickly grabbed my right arm and bit my lip as other circumstances flooded through my mind. I was so engrossed with my thoughts that I didn't notice the figure that prowled in the vibrant green bushes behind me.

-Tala's POV-

I had long since left that ungrateful creature behind in front of the entrance. I joined my team in our designated room and waited for her to come through that door with a pout on her face; how typical. I awaited our conversation later on when she purposely losses the battle and I pull her aside, only to have her spill her pathetic 'pity me' garbage that she enjoys to throw around. 'And, in the end, she's going to somehow make me the fall guy in which the rest of Neoborg will once again look down on me, and then I'm going to have to apologize; yippee.'

My frozen glacial eyes remained closed as I waited. However, she never came through that door. 'Even though she's not here, she's still managing to make me feel guilty...Why did I feel so offended anyway? It's not as if she was saying that I was weak...' I sighed and opened my eyes 'no, she never even hinted that she thought I was weak...Then why did I get so irritated when she told me that she cares about me? Maybe it's because I know that she only said that in a friendship kind of way...And not in the way that I care for her. I guess I should have chosen my words better...I guess I should have rephrased my last sentence at least..._ "Honestly, Kiko, you have no idea how much pain I can handle... because you never bother to listen to anybody...You never bothered yourself with the 'troublesome' task of getting to know us...You've only ever though of yourself, and not of what others think of you"_ how could I have said that?' "None of it was true...And yet you felt the need to say it anyway...I am a heartless freak" I managed to mumble as I got up from where I sat. Spencer was the first to notice me moving towards the doorway with a slightly glazed look in my eyes.

"Tala sama, where are you going?" Spencer's deep voice tore through the silencer that had encased us since we had entered the building.

I stopped just as I was about to turn the handle of our door. Without so much as glancing back at him, I answered with as much strength as humanly possible to put into one's voice "since when is it your job to know where I'm going?" At that comment, I distinctly heard low grumbling from the whale and heard the scratching of the chairs' legs as someone pushed away from the table.

"You know, Tala, a team means: a number of people organized to function cooperatively as a group, which means that we need to know where you're going. Amazingly enough, sometimes we do need you around, oh precious leader! Kiko is not the only one on this team!" Bryan spoke up finally and he sounded angry. 'Not that I can blame him.'

"Those are not words to be spoken to your leader...Watch it, Kuznetsov!" I retorted, but that only succeeded in getting the falcon more enraged. He stood up this time and drove his fist into the door; I was sure that he left a dent in the metal. My eyes widened slightly as his hand barely missed my face. I could feel his hot breath in my ear as he spoke:

"You'd better watch it, Valkov" he hissed into my ear and forcefully withdrew his fist that had been implanted into the wall. I took this opportunity to leave our cell and because I didn't want to face Kiko yet, I decided to take a look around the BBA tournament area.

-Inside Neoborg's 'Cell'-

Spencer went over to Bryan as soon as their leader disappeared. Ian had also left his gun on the table and walked hastily over to Bryan; the falcon. Spencer's big hand rested on Bryan's shoulder in a half hearted attempt at calming him down, or to at least to get him to sit. Their room was spacious and had cobalt blue lockers lining the sides of it. A TV and a grey table with chairs was located close to the door when you entered the area.

Bryan shoved off his hand and went back over to where he had been sitting earlier. His fist had turned bright red from when he slammed it into the door; Spencer was sure that he had broken his hand. Ian was inspecting the door as Spencer sat beside Bryan silently. For a while nothing was uttered between any of them but eventually even the silence began to grate on their nerves.



"Do you think that he said something to her...?" Ian asked as he joined them. They barely acknowledged his presence as he sat down on the opposite side of Spencer; sitting near Bryan when you were only a few feet tall meant that you would probably be chucked into the wall, much like a football.

"You know, Ian," Spencer started "I'm pretty sure that he said something to her-"

"But I'm convinced that he loves her." Bryan stated before Spencer could finish. Ian glanced towards the other Russian incredulously as those words passed his lips; loved her? Upon seeing his confused face, he continued "the way he acts towards her...The way he talks to her...If you wouldn't know any better, one would think that he was friends with her before they came on this 'team'." He spat out the last word as if it had the ability to kill anyone who dared speak it. The other two nodded at his words; it was useless arguing what they knew was true.

"But...Will he lose control more often because he likes her?" Ian voiced the question that had haunted them for a while now. No one had an answer to give to Ian or to themselves.

-Later that day-

-Tala's POV-

"Alright everybody, we're just about to start the World Championship Beyblade Tournament! We have 'bladers from all over the globe! Please, take your seats and be prepared to see the best tournament yet!" DJ Jazzman yelled into his ever-present microphone that he was currently tightly grasping it as if it were his life line. Tala's keen subzero eyes scanned the arena for his other team mate; Kiko was missing. 'I hope she didn't forget or something...Stupid girl...Argh, where is she? I can't believe I'm getting _this_ agitated over something such as a missing team mate! I mean, Kai disappeared a lot when he was with us...That back stabbing-'My thoughts were quickly interrupted at the sound of quickly approaching footsteps. 'Is that her or will I just look ludicrous as I'm standing there gawking at the stranger? I'd better just keep my back to whoever it is...' I wanted so badly to turn around, though, but my common sense told me otherwise. 'It's probably some photographer that wants to see his idols _before_ we're allowed to attack them. I doubt very much that anyone wants to be cornered by Bryan in a bad mood, speaking of which, where is he?'

I never stopped to glance around my team before we came to the edge of the entrance leading to the small arena; I never had to up to this point. 'He's probably sulking in a dark corner or something...' Much to my relief, Spencer and Ian were both there, even if they did look indifferent, 'let me guess, Bryan said something that made me the fall guy; just my luck.'

"From the far North representing Russia, Neoborg," I came back to the real world when the DJ shouted that across the bey-stadium, which resulted in loud screaming from the fans; how much I longed to let Bryan loose on them, then they'd never be able to whisper my name nevertheless scream it.

I nodded to my remaining team and led them out of the shadows and into the bright lights of the stadium. Jazzman looked confused as to why the other two were missing, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Across from us glared the G-Revolutions; I guess Kai hasn't changed his opinion of us yet. We waited for an excruciating 15 minutes before the loud-mouth announced the two teams that were to battle; thankfully, it wasn't us. The two teams were the White Tiger X and the G-Revolutions; we could miss that one. Right when we turned around did we come face-to-face with the other members of Neoborg. Kiko looked unsure and jumpy; did I frighten her? The glare worn on Bryan's face was worse than a basilisk's on its worst day.

Tala nodded to the duo and led them back to where their 'cell' was. On the way back, Kiko kept on glancing back or side ways, as if she were afraid of something...Something invisible to us. Her hands continued to fidget like what an insane person would do once they'd been locked up in the asylum. 'What on earth has happened to her...?' I quickly brushed the thought away when our paths crossed with Heishi; what were they doing here?

Their leader, Alvaak, didn't show any sign of emotion as he allowed us to pass unharmed. The silver haired girl behind them, I think her name was Rika, glared at me with her detestable crimson eyes; was she really strong enough for that team? 'She didn't look powerful when they kidnapped me...Nobara was the one who put me in intensive care.' When my wintry eyes glanced over at Kiko, she appeared normal when normally everyone would be anxious. 'My does she hide her emotions well...Or...Is it something more...?' I inwardly gave my head a shake, no, she had no connection with them, so then why was this feeling developing faster in me? Why did I suddenly feel as if she couldn't be trusted...?

We finally came to our door and silently sat down to watch the defeat of the White Tigers, which would be the outcome unless Tyson let his emotions take over again; what a pathetic creature. I was barely paying any attention 

to the screen in front of me as my thoughts encased me once more. It felt as if I was drifting between being awake and being unconscious, like my body wasn't mine anymore. I felt hallow and empty as my lifeless eyes watched the battle; as if you could call it that. Nothing seemed real anymore, not even the tense person beside me, not the cool air that hit my face, not my heart that refused to give up; no, nothing seemed real anymore.

-Heishi's POV-

The cold captain of Heishi continued walking after that other traitorous group had vanished from view. Rika remained in the back, and Nobara was so close to Alvaak that the heartless leader could feel his hot breath on his neck. Alvaak's cold black eyes remained fixed on the empty space in front of him as he led his team to their own cell. His blood stained hands were still unwashed from the night before; nobody dares to disappoint him or Boris. Luckily, his calloused hands were hidden by his long, skin tight black gloves. There was no sound in the hallway besides their foot steps and Alvaak's trench coat as it swished behind him.

Nobara easily followed their leader's swift footsteps as they walked back to where they'd spend their days when they weren't playing. His raven and red streaked hair flowed over his shoulders and seemed to bounce while he walked. He made sure to keep exactly one pace behind Alvaak at all times; if he dared get closer or took the lead he would probably be living his last day. He had to abide to many rules, such as to only wear certain types of clothing. Almost nobody knew why, Alvaak, Boris, and Lithian were exceptions, but everyone else was kept in the dark. So, Nobara wore long sleeved white shirts and pitch black jeans. He had two rings, one on each hand.

Rika remained in the back with her head low; she needn't look up just to see their enemies. Her broken crimson eyes were fixed onto the ground as if the glassy surface would take away her pain. She was placed on this team only to replace Tala, Nobara for Spencer, Alvaak for Kiko, and Lithian for Bryan. No, they were nothing special; they were just toys for Boris to play with; pawns for Mr. Balkov to get his revenge with. Their bitbeasts were the same thing; toy soldiers waiting to be played with.

She subconsciously reached into the pocket of her skirt and wrapped her fingers around her blue and black beyblade, around Amarok.

-Kiyoko's POV-

I had long since gathered into our locker room; we won against them. 'I hope that Rin's taking this okay...She really doesn't like to lose...Especially to someone like Tyson.' I sat down on the bench like thing in between the lockers that stood by the wall. 'I wonder when Heishi will make their appearance... Maybe...Maybe Kenny san can find something about them...' I sat there contemplating on how I could possibly ask such a thing; I don't want him to go and do something just because I asked him, too. I mean, what if he feels obliged to do that sort of stuff? No, I'd have to go and find out about them by myself.

'I need to know why Kiko hates them...Why they attacked her team...And how they came into contact with Boris.' My deep purple eyes flashed with fear as I realized something 'could they be after me? Is Boris trying to get me again? What about Rin? I need to warn her!' With little trouble I slipped out into the empty hallway and silently made my way towards Rin's room.

I almost made it without any trouble, but sadly, there will always be trials on the way. I came face to face with the leader of Heishi, Alvaak Soichiro. He gazed at me with his cold dark eyes and remained staring at me until the boy beside him whispered something into his ear. Alvaak shrugged off his team mate and gave me a disgusted look. I instinctively stepped back and waited for them to say something...To do anything that would allow me to have an excuse to fight, to tear his neck to shreds for what he did. However, they remained silent and stayed where they were.

"Miss Arashi, I presume, where do you think you're going so quickly?" My eyes widened once more when that familiar heartless voice that purred from behind me. My ears twitched with every step he took in order to get closer to me. 'Drat...Now what am I going to do? He's here...Behind me...Lithian.' "I guess you didn't know that I had came with them? How sad...To meet you here like this...I was hoping that you would have been on the other side of the beydish by the time we final reunited. Tsk, Tsk...You are truly hopeless if you thought that Boris would allow me time to rest from the Abbey when he left...Oh, but you would know, wouldn't you...When you left I was the one who paid. When you left...I swore to live until I could kill you. As soon as Boris left, you decided to ditch us, too. Traitor" his voice became more distinct with every second that past. His words pounded in my mind, as did all of my memories that I thought had been forgotten. Memories of that horrid place, of those people that now stood in front of me, of the bitter night when I ran away; yes, I remembered it all.

I shuddered when he stalked past me to stand beside his current team captain. They gave me one final look, and then walked past me silently. When their footsteps died away I collapsed onto the floor; why did it have to be 

them? I closed my eyes and rested against the wall. My body was shaking, but I was still alive 'If it had been any other place, they would have killed me.' I was soon aware of someone coming down the hallway towards me; did they come back to finish the job? There was only one pair of feet that I could detect. My black cat ears twitched when they finally came to a stop behind me. 'I'm sorry...My friends...My team...Kai...I let you down again...I'm sorry.' I waited for the finishing blow, but instead the person kneeled beside me and gently rested their hand on my shoulder. My eyes snapped open and I gazed back into exotic purple orbs.

Relief showered me when I gazed at him. I was never so happy to have him beside before. "Kai..." I managed to whisper before I leaned into his touch. He continued to stay by my side and waited until I could get up and walk beside him. His long raindrop-colored scarf trailed behind him and swished between his feet as he led me back to our locker room. Before we entered inside of it, he stopped me and raised my chin so that I could look up into his zinfandel-colored eyes. Once he knew I had his attention, he let me go.

"Kiyoko chan...I don't know what happened between you and Heishi...But stay away from them." He then disappeared into our team's room. I stayed outside though and thought 'He barely says anything to anyone...And yet he spoke to me...Why?' I shook my head and eventually followed him; I had ditched the though of finding out information about them...I knew enough about them already because I grew up beside them, walking in their shadows.

AN: Well, please review me! I hope that you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it! Man, I'm sorry if Kai didn't sound so 'Kai-like', you know? Or if any of my OC's sounded unlike themselves or something like that. But, I honestly don't like Kai very much. I just put him in because of my best friend; you'd better appreciate him! Oh, if there are any Naruto (not mine) fans out there...I've learned that Itachi was nice! Ha, I was right! I was SO right! If you want to know how he was nice, you'll have to ask me. Alas, I'm rather bored, so I'm going to go write again; yippie. I don't get sarcasm, odd isn't it? I wish I did...I don't even get jokes! It is so sad! Hn, anyways, I'll wrap this up now. Please review me, and thank you all for reading this, even if you don't review! Bye!


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Save Me

**Last Time:**

"Kiyoko chan...I don't know what happened between you and Heishi...But stay away from them." He then disappeared into our team's room. I stayed outside though and thought 'He barely says anything to anyone...And yet he spoke to me...Why?' I shook my head and eventually followed him; I had ditched the though of finding out information about them...I knew enough about them already because I grew up beside them, walking in their shadows.

**Continued Story: **

-Kiko's POV-

I had long since left our team cell and hid in the dense bushes beside the desolate grey building; it looked like everything else in this sad excuse for a city. My knees were brought up to my chest as I sat there dejectedly in the thick and tangled mess of thyme green bushes. Imagery of my team captain continued to flash through my mind; why did he react that way? I shook my head with a discouraged glow in my celestial blue eyes. A few strands of midnight black hair swished in front of my face. I didn't have the will power to replace them back behind my ears; what was the point anyway? It's not like he'd forgive me just because I looked my best.

Movement in the shrubs beside me made me catch my breath; was it one of the members from Heishi? No, they're probably in the arena already, ripping some wretched fool to pieces. Their body would soon hit the floor, lifeless and broken. Thick streams of crimson liquid would drain from their body and Heishi would remain standing there with that smug grin on their putrid faces. My body stopped shuddering when I thought about it more; I was safe out here, nothing and no one was going to come after me...No one was going to find me. A small, delicate smile spread across my lips; yeah, I was truly and utterly alone now. For once I felt relief pass through me, for once I felt as if nothing could take me down.

Just when my confidence was starting to rise considerably, a certain red head came out of the building. It appeared to me that he was upset about something; what a ridiculous thought. 'No, why would _he_ be upset? He has no reason to be! It's not as if I attacked him and made him feel like dirt!' I watched in silence, though, in case he might need me; like I'd help him.

"Why...Did he have to...I-I'm losing control..." Tala whispered into the light wind. His beautiful crimson hair swayed in the faint breeze in rhythm to it. He looked down at his hands, and stared at them with a disgusted look pasted onto his face. He closed his arctic eyes shortly and buried his face in his strong hands. His body was trembling imperceptibly, though; I noticed it after some time. He continued to mumble Russian phrases into the palm of his hand; his voice was so quiet that I couldn't make out any words. Just as he did this, the sky changed significantly. It no longer held fluffy raindrop white clouds, instead it held dark, forbidding black clouds that seemed to clump together. The wind picked up immensely to the point where it hurt when it hit you. It felt like a cat-o-nine tails as it sunk its teeth into your flesh only to pull back out again, taking small amounts of your own flesh with it. The sky was a mixture of black and grey as more of those monstrous clouds flowed their way to Japan. And then, without warning, it started to snow. It was light at first, and then it picked up and swirled around Tala's still-standing body. The white substance circled around me in my crouched position on the dirt. My morning suddenly became a long forgotten memory as the new age of a Russian blizzard made Japan its home.

-Tala's POV-

I couldn't take anymore! I had single-handedly ruined my friendship with the woman of my dreams, my team was irate with me, and to make matters worse, Heishi decided to show up after all! I felt such anxiety that I didn't notice the sudden change in the wind or the tiny flecks that beat down on me as I stood there with my head buried in my hands. 'What have I done now? Why can't I keep myself under control? Why...Did Boris have to mutate me into this catastrophical being?' It felt as if I was dying inside...As if someone had just stabbed me; I would gladly accept that punishment now, anything was better than this. 'Sorrow upon sorrow seem to come my way as soon as I was beginning to think that Kiko and I would be fine together...But then something changes...And then my thoughts alter with the impact of the added change. It feels as if...Whenever something is added or taken away...Kiko and I seem to get farther and farther apart.'

My eyes remained closed as the snow storm blew around me; what difference did it make if I stood out here alone? It didn't anymore, because right now no one would care if I froze to death, no one would know. 'I'm left outside alone...'



-Rika's POV-

A burning sensation ran up my leg when the blizzard began outside; was it not natural? 'Amarok only responds...When there's a storm outside that isn't normal; when it's man made. But, that's impossible...Only the Wolf can do that.' My dress was torn in some places and many bruises and cuts marred my features. Amarok is my bit beast; a silver wolf.

A smack to my head brought me back from my reality and into a world where nightmares became real. Nobara san often hit me to keep me from getting into any misfortunate situations. If I was caught by Alvaak sama or Lithian in any act of day dreaming, they'd beat me till I was so close to death, I could taste it, I could _see_ it, the door that often blocked my way from slipping away forever. Nobara san was certainly one of a kind; he could read anyone with a single look. That was how he knew that I had drifted off into a place with less turmoil, with less grief and with less pain.

I sighed deeply and resumed listening to the clock ticking on the far wall. Alvaak sama was out lurking in the corners of the building and Lithian acted as if he was watching the television with his pristine-porcelain white eyes. Sometimes, it looked as if he had no pupils his eyes were so white. He had his arms and legs crossed as he sat there, 'Why does he even bother trying to act as if he's watching the d thing? Everyone knows that he's just waiting for one of us to slip up so that he can jump at the chance to torture us again, to make us bleed on the floor, to change our once healthy bodies into disfigured corpses...'

I itched for a beybattle, but I knew that it was forbidden. Boris instructed that we abstain from using our bit beasts and our superior attacks until we can battle Neoborg. They needed to be taught a lesson in the art of pain and suffering.

"Hey, why don't we go over to the window at the end of the hall, Rika sama?" Nobara san subtly whispered to me so that Lithian couldn't figure it out. Not that he'd get wrathful with him; Nobara san was so charismatic that he almost never got into any kind of tribulation. I nodded as discreetly as possible, my silver pony tail bobbed up and down with the faint movement.

We easily snuck out of that anti-peace filled room; it was probably because Nobara san was the one who led me out. 'Everyone trusts him...Bah, who needs people anyway? Not me, that's for sure. I do not need any beast and I absolutely do not want living thing near me.' My stoic nature often drove people away in good time, but not Nobara san, no; he has never left me alone. As soon as I'm relieved from the 'classroom lesson', he's the first one to come and check up on me. I only wish that I could repay him for all of his kindness, though I know that it's impossible to do; emotions are forbidden for me, and only me.

Once we were at the window at the end of what seemed to be a very long hallway, Nobara san broke the silence that had made its way between us, like tiny rays of light that somehow manage to find their way through thick black clouds. "Rika sama...Do you think that...We'll lose to them?" Nobara san's voice was so quiet and sorrow-ridden that it caught me off guard; I was so used to having him speak to me in his sing-song voice that bounced off of the walls rhythmatically.

I took my time in answering this delicate question; how would I know if Alvaak sama was just behind the corner? "I do not know." He turned to me quickly and flashed me this appalling glare. For once in my life, I felt threatened by him, Nobara san, my only 'friend'. He slowly turned away from me and resumed staring out into the distance, as if the answer to his question was lurking out there somewhere; it was pathetic thinking on his part, an answer like that could never be formed within the undecipherable words created by the snow falling outside wildly.

-A little while later-

-Kiko's POV-

We walked silently through the crowds that threatened to separate us. 'I can't believe Tala benched me...I mean, he didn't even battle! It was Bryan and Spencer against the Majestics...I'm still amazed that we won.' I thought bitterly as we continued on our way to our hotel, 'well, at least that freak snow storm stopped...It looks just as if nothing had happened...' I glanced unnoticeably at Tala with my intensified snowy blue eyes. He still seemed edgy to me, but I guess everything seemed different now...

"Kiko san, stop zoning out," Tala's sharp voice pierced my thoughts and caused me to glare up at him with the utmost hatred. 'What is his problem today? It feels as if he hates me...Did I do something wrong? Yeah, I spoke my mind...That's what I did wrong...I 'should have known better'.' I snarled inwardly at him; he doesn't need to make me feel worse in order for me to get the message.



I crossed my arms by this time and walked with heavy steps. My eyes changed color; they were now Venetian red and beluga black. My hair remained to be black, but it also acquired a flamboyant red tinge throughout my hair. 'Oh, that Tala! He thinks that just because he was labelled the 'ice prince' that it allows him to treat us like crap! He wasn't like this last week...No; he was nice last week...'

I sighed and slowed my pace gradually, till Neoborg had long since passed me and I was alone on these busy streets. The remains of the snow storm were crunching beneath my feet as I calmly walked through the thick, glistening white substance. 'Why does everything have to come to an end...I guess I walked on thin ice...And woke up the sleeping wolf.'

-Alvaak's POV-

I had long since made my rounds along the 'great building'; bah, Boris' was more grand than this shabby piece of sh--. My coal black eyes remained closed as I leaned against the walls that made up our cell. Rika san and Nobara san had walked off, too. That lazy ba-- forgot Boris' orders, again! I was going to have to do something with Lithian and his habits of letting our subordinates depart whenever they wished. I was growing impatient.

The door creaked open to reveal a cool Lithian. I didn't need to open my eyes to know that it was him. He had this strange way of making the room feel atypical whenever he entered. I heard his boots clomping against the cold hard ground, and then the advancing footsteps stopped; he must be sitting now. I shuffled in my chair slightly and moved my head so that my black hair would cover my pale features. My mouth had resumed its usual form; fixed in a grim sort of stance. My jaw was set and I was ready to give out my orders of punishment for all of the delinquents.

"I couldn't find them, Soichiro sama" he would often call me that instead of using my forename, like the original way of speaking for the Japanese; ugh. "I didn't expect them to just disappear like that, sir," he told me in this rather condescending tone of voice.

I opened my eyes to reveal my dark orbs of ire. "Lithian, you had better watch your tongue unless you want me to cut it out. I'd suggest that you get up off your lazy a-- and go find them!" My voice rose to tremendous volumes so much that it reverberated against these walls. He nonchalantly moved his head over to gaze in my direction. He sighed and moved at a snail pace in order to actually get up. 'I have had it with these people! I do not wish to be this serene, benevolent person! Who needs peace anyways? (AN: this is just his view on things, not mine, so I'm sorry if anyone takes offence to that line)

I slammed my fist against the table near me and in so doing I knocked down a few glasses; they shattered on impact with the floor. Lithian fixed me an indifferent gaze and effortlessly shrugged off my sudden outburst. "Okay, okay, whatever you say, captain." I snarled at his direction as he rolled his eyes and strolled off passively. Antagonism for him surged through my body and with every passing moment it grew to an oversized amount of abhorrence. 'He can't just give me impertinence and expect to go unblemished. Fools, they're all such fools.

-Kiko's POV-

I sighed and waited for the man at the hotdog stand to finish up with my hotdog; how long did it take to watch a piece of meat turn around and around in a glass container? "Okay, one hotdog 100 yen." I raised an eyebrow and gave him the money; it wasn't worth arguing about. I walked away and finished my meat in under 20 seconds; preparing to eat quickly in a race against my guy friends allowed me to place as much as possible in my mouth without choking.

The sun was high in the sky, its beautifully decorated rays of tangerine and lemon yellow danced in the pale blue skies above me. It was a magnificent scene of water colors and oils. The art of the sky had made a place in my heart to call home. I always felt moved by how radiant it can be at some moments, but then become violent and hateful in the next second. The wind was always changing, and every sunset and sunrise somehow looked different from the one before it. I wasn't much of an artist, but the few stuff that I did do that fell under the category of 'art' held a wonder like no other. It captured the person and inspired them to do better than I.

"Hey, girl, why are you out here alone?" A snarling voice spoke behind me. I turned on my heel and stood face-to-face with the person of my nightmares, a member of Heishi, Rika. Her glistening silver hair swirled around her body like my own hair did. She started towards me and kept this smug grin on her face. When she came only a few centimetres from me, she continued with her speech, "I don't think that you should be out alone, do you? I think..." she came closer, "that you should..." I could feel her breath on my face, "leave." I didn't waste any time as I dashed in the other direction and away from her. I never looked back to her, 'One foot in front of the other. Come on legs, move faster! Who knows who else could be around here?!'

* * *

I stopped sprinting as soon as I was at the hotel; I was finally safe now. I collapsed onto the door and waited till I could catch my breath again. 'I can't believe that she let me go...It's like she wanted me to be with my team so that I didn't get hurt...But, why?' I pondered all of the reasonable circumstances that would allow her to do that for me, but none seemed to suffice. I clambered up the stairs and stopped just outside my door.

"Maybe I should just-"I began to mumble before I gave up making excuses. This was my room, too! I didn't have to leave the comforts of home just because I didn't want to get in the middle of yet another fight. I placed my slightly shaking hand on the handle and turned the knob. 'So far so good...No random yelling...Okay, fine, I'll enter.' I continued walking into the room and stopped once I saw the figure of Tala standing in the room.

"Tala...Sama...What are you doing?" He turned to me and fixed me with a stare that sent shivers up my spine even though there was next to no emotion on his face. After some time he turned away from me again and resumed staring off into space. He was facing the big window in my room and motioned for me to come stand beside him.

"Look..." he managed to whisper to me and pointed across to the other building. What I saw greatly disgusted me; it was this guy cleaning the windows of the opposite building. Its windows were being so well washed that the sun glinted off of the window panes. The only problem was that his pants were so low...It showed his butt crack, you could just imagine what the front looked like; he was probably wearing low riders.

"Uh, Tala...Why are you staring...At that cleaning guy...?" He shrugged with a smirk.

"It takes my mind off of certain things...It's gross, isn't it?" I nodded and together we stared at the man cleaning buildings.

-Heishi's POV-

Rika was sent flying by yet another hit to her face by courtesy of Alvaak. Nobara was being tortured in the other room; he didn't get away with this one this time. Lithian was off in his 'room', also known as a keeping. It was basically a cage that one would keep dogs in or animals at the circus. All you could hear was screaming from the opposite room and the thud of Rika's body was she was thrown around.

"Maybe next time you'll think before you do something such as letting that little b-- go!" She was struck again. "Why do you have this need to break every rule that I construct? Maybe if I fiddle with your genetic tissue you'd behave!" Alvaak turned from her and grabbed his metal rod. "Maybe this time you won't forget why you're here..." his voice was soft and filled with odium; it was very dangerous. Rika curled into a corner unless he took her arm and lifted her high up off the ground only to make her come crashing down onto the hard cement ground from the blow of the rod.

All the while Rika kept on thinking, 'will anybody save me...? Tala...My friend...Why won't you save me...?'

-Rika's Poetry-

In the darkness, there is a mirror. And in the reflection, is nothing but fear,

The mirror is black, my face is smeared;

Won't somebody come and save me from this fear;

I fear you, you fear me, are we truly happy?

Will we end up dying alone?

In this place with my heart like stone?

I remember when we used to laugh,

But the memories are quickly fading

Am I fading, too?

Will I only be a reflection of what I used to be?

Or will my words receive wings, so that what's left of me can reach you?

AN: Yeah, I know, this chapter came out way late, but I had really bad writers block and I had final exams! The only reason that I'm posting this it because I'm going away pretty soon and I wanted to give my readers something to read before I get another chance to write again. Yes, I will be writing plenty when I'm gone, and my best friends can help me with it when I get stuck, so it shouldn't take me very long to post again. I hope that this meets everyone's standards and that you will forgive me for its shortness. Again, I'd like to apologize for its being so short! If any of you have any questions about the content in my chapter please ask me. Oh, and I censored my swearing for those who take offence to it. I will not be letting Kiko swear or some of the more calm-ish people swear. Thank you for waiting for this to come up, and I apologize for its lateness, too. Please bear with me and thank you for all of my readers! I'd like to thank one in particular for her magnificent insight; FairyDyris you have helped me a lot, thanks. However, I thank all of my readers and their insight, too! So, don't think that I'm forgetting you, cause I'm not! Please review me and tell me what you think, thank you.


	40. Chapter 40

-Kiko's POV-

"Vortex of eternal darkness!" I summoned my bit beast, Edragore, but in so doing unleashed one of my more powerful attacks, though not the strongest. The vortex would be around for much longer and the damage made by it would be extreme. No, nothing could match my bit beast and I.

As my beyblade spun around the dish my thoughts wandered back to when the team was in Japan. 'The last few days were hectic...Troubling even. A rift sprang forth between Tala and I, which made the rest of the team wary so, they stayed away from the both of us; it was as if we had the plague.' I sighed and looked up from where Edragore spun. I blinked in surprise but once. The last time I had actually allowed my brain to register what it saw was only a few moments ago, but now there was someone there, someone watching me. I vaguely remembered his face, his cold violet eyes, the blue triangles and the scarf.

"Wieler what are you doing" it was more like a statement than a question. I gave him a look of disgust; what was his problem with me anyway? I only had one dish; there were 3 others that were empty so why did he need _this_ one?

"What does it look like I'm doing, Hiwatari?" I sneered the question out; he was beginning to get on my nerves. He _tsked_ and walked over to my side of the bowl. My muscles tensed at his sudden closeness. He reached down and took my hand roughly at the same moment Edragore retreated back to where I stood. He bent down and took my 'blade into his hand and then loaded it into my launcher. He moved behind me and manoeuvred my hands and body so that they were in the ready position for launching a second time. He stepped back and nodded; it was obviously a notion to say that he wanted me to let Edragore go once more. I obeyed him and to my surprised, without even using an attack, my beyblade spun as rapidly as it had before.

I called my 'blade back and turned around to face this guy. "Uh, thanks, Kai san...What did you come here for anyway?" Curiosity got the better of me, but he didn't seem offended or surprised that I asked. He left the safety of the shadows by the wall and stood in front of me again.

"Just thank me and leave, I've got things to do and those things do not include schooling a little girl," I glared at him but stalked off; what was the use of arguing with a guy who barely talks to his own team mates? I left the confines of the training area and walked down the hallway, alone.

-With Kai-

Kai smirked after the girl left and raised his hand to signal the one whom he owed much to; Kiyoko Arashi. She jumped down from the rafters and slinked over to stand by her teammates' side. Kai looked down at her and smiled faintly, "well, just as I had said..."

She sighed, exasperated with their long term 'argument' though she thought that he enjoyed it. "Yeah, but, Kai, do you think that you could help them somehow?" Her purple ears twitched slightly as she tilted her head to one side. Her big violet eyes watched Kai in an innocent way; how much he would love to just reach out and touch those soft ears.

He brushed away the thought and nodded slightly, "I can try, Kiyoko san, but that mutt is a different story" she smiled up at him showing her gleaming white fangs. Kai melted inside, though he would never admit to his true feelings towards the feline. He nodded once more and walked away briskly; the temptation to gently take hold of her hand was getting to be too much. The fearless leader left Kiyoko behind filled with shame; how could he feel this way?

She smiled again and walked after him, her longing to be with him quickly growing to pain whenever he left. Kiyoko didn't care if she was yelled at for this or if she was given training work to do if she went with him, all Kiyoko knew was that she needed to be with him because being away was too painful.

-With the Blitzkriegboys-

"Bryan, something needs to be done about those two. The tournament is almost over and they still haven't bandaged the wounds, so to speak," Spencer's voice of reason broke out amongst the silence. Tala had taken a walk and wouldn't be back before dusk; they had the day off.

"Yeah, Spencer?" Bryan slammed his beyblade down even though he was mending it, "and what do you propose we do about it? Lock them up in a room and tell them that they won't be released till they make up?" His anger was obvious, though Spencer knew exactly how to get to him.

"Bryan, I know that you like Kiko...But wouldn't it be better if she was with someone that made her happy?" They all knew that she loved Tala and vice versa, even if no one ever stated it openly. Spencer watched as his dove grey friend digested the idea of allowing her to be truly at peace. The older Blitzkiregboy knew that he had him; Bryan was easy to get to. "Now, what would give them the time to make up with each other?" Silence enveloped them as they thought about this predicament.

"Hey, why don't we set them up? You know, like on a blind date?" Ian piped up. The other two looked at him; they had forgotten that he was even there.

"That isn't a bad idea...But how would we get Tala to go along with this?" Spencer thought aloud.

"What if we told him that it was a meeting between the best beybladers?" Ian was coming up with excellent ideas today, which was a strange turn of events. All three of them nodded and smirked; they knew both bladers' weaknesses and now had a plan to make their weaknesses work for them and not against them.

-With Spencer-

"I'll talk to Tala, Bryan you go after Kiko, we'll meet here right after. Do you have all of the details?" Bryan nodded and they walked their separate ways to find their respected bladers. Spencer wandered around the deserted houses and streets that weren't so crowded; Tala's ideal place to hide. The older Russian soon found his prey walking along an empty sidewalk.

He bee lined it over to the red head and fell into step beside him. The Neoborg leader glanced sideways but that was about all he gave to his teammate that allowed him to know that he recognized that he was there. "Tala, I was told to tell you about a meeting today." With that little sentence he had Tala's attention; how easily it was gained. The two boys stopped and discussed the reason for the meeting, time of the meeting, who would be there and other necessities.

-With Bryan-

"Hey, girl! Funny how we just run into each other all of the time," Bryan called over the racks of clothes that Kiko had hidden herself in. She sighed and stood up from where she sat. She smiled slightly and watched as her friend walked over to sit beside her.

"Yeah, it is funny, Bryan. So, what did you come here for?" She asked while they sat in la Senza (I do not own this store) amongst the rows of lingerie. He grinned and hit her back in a friendly way.

"I always come here, Kiko! What are you doing here?" She gave him a shocked look and managed to keep down the vomit that threatened to spew from the depths of her stomach. She shot him a worried stare when he stood up and busied himself with picking up frilly things. She grabbed his hand and dragged him out; Bryan was whining the whole way back out.

She stopped and let go of his hand. Her hard glare made him almost turn back around and try it again. "Kiko...I met up with one of your friends, Kiyoko, and she told me to give you a message." He watched as her eyebrows rose and her anger slowly dissipated; he had her interest.

-Kiko's POV-

I walked away from Bryan as soon as he had finished giving me the message from Kiyoko. 'Well, I guess going wouldn't be that bad, and it'd be a shame that she wasted so much time finding this guy only for me to not show up,' I thought attentively.

I walked alone in the mall now, but this time I had a goal in mind: find the right dress and accessories. I smirked, who would have thought that Kiko Wieler would be this girly for one date and a blind one at that. I looked through the stores with little interest; nothing seemed right for this kind of thing. I sighed and leaned against the map of the mall and casually glanced at it; nothing jumped out at me. So, with that little problem at hand I realized I had no idea what genre this restaurant was.

I walked over to the phone book beside the directory and flipped through the pages till I found the place I was supposed to dine at tonight: Ambrosius (I do not own this restaurant and yes it is real). It was apparently a 10 star restaurant in Berlin, Germany. I shut the book and sighed; I was going to have a kick ass dress for this date. I took up the search again and this time it wasn't in vain, entirely.

-Tala's POV-

I had agreed to go to this strange meeting even though it meant I'd have to go shopping. I knew the place well and knew that it was indeed very luxurious. I entered the mall and began in the direction of the directory; it would surely tell me where to find dress shirts and pants. I found the store I needed in seconds; I've been to Germany many times.

-6:00 at Ambrosius-

At a table in the far back of Ambrosius sat Kiko Wieler in a stunning black satin, strapless dress. Her hair had been pulled up and curled slightly at the end. Her neck bore a Victorian style choker that matched her earrings exactly. The girl had been sitting here for a few minutes and she already began doubting that he'd even show. Much like her spirit her eyes were lowered to gaze at the markings etched into the mahogany table. At the same time as this her date finally came, Tala Valkov, though he was here for a meeting between the 'best leaders'.

The waitress asked if he had reservations in which he told her he was meeting someone here. She asked for his name and after hearing his reply suppressed a giggle. She nodded quickly and led him to the table in the back and fled from the soon to be disaster zone. The two locked eyes together and Kiko immediately dropped her gaze. Tala looked away and slowly sat down across from her. It was silent for a while at that table far in the back.

Tala cleared his throat and picked up a fork to lightly tap against the wine glass set before him. She looked up and gave him a quizzical look. "Tala sama, what are you doing here?" she finally asked and felt a wave of relief that it was no longer silent.

He looked at her and put his fork down to where it was originally set. "I was told I had a meeting to attend to here..." She nodded and didn't hide the blush that slowly crept up into her cheeks. 'No, he didn't want to see me here...And to think that he might have feelings for me,' Kiko thought sadly.

But, as Tala watched her lower her gaze again and start smoothing out the table cloth he couldn't help but smile. "I'm glad it wasn't a meeting, though, because this is much better than a couple of stiffs trying to buy me," he murmured softly so that only her ears could catch it. She stopped smoothing out the table cloth and raised her head. She smiled gently and giggled.

"Same here, Tala, I'm glad that it's you instead of someone else," her voice was small but sincere. They sat in silence for a moment longer until the waiter came over and asked for their orders. Once the waiter had them and left, Tala leaned against the table to get a bit closer to his date.

"You look amazing tonight, Kiko chan...I'm sorry that I've been ignoring you for the past few months" he murmured and gazed into her frostic eyes. She blinked in surprise but smiled anyway.

"Thank you, Tala kun...I'm also sorry that I haven't been the best-"He cut her off with a hard stare. Kiko bit her bottom lip and looked away. At this Tala felt saddened so he reached over hesitantly and lightly placed his hand over hers.

"You've been amazing towards me, don't ever think otherwise, Kiko," she looked back at him and blinked away the tears that had welled up in her crystalline eyes. She turned her hand up and held his hand. Their hands remained enclosed over the other for the rest of the night. And for the first time they both owned up to their emotions towards the other.

-The Next Day-

-Kiko's POV-

I smiled over at Tala and he returned it this time. I giggled and walked over to join his side. He gently wrapped his arm around me and continued walking to the stadium with the rest of Neoborg. I didn't know why the others were being so collected about us, but they were much to my satisfaction. I leaned against him slightly and he tightened his muscled arm around my waist. It felt like I was in a dream, a bliss filled dream. I had never felt this happy before now and for once I was actually enjoying living. 'I owe a lot to Kiyoko for this...How did she know that I liked him anyway?' I thought with slight confusion, but decided it wasn't much to think about in the long run. The important thing was that Tala felt the same way about me as I do him.

Tala let my waist go to open the door for me and replaced it back when we entered the massive building. There were spectators and bladers all over the place but no one bothered us; it was strange. Even Tyson left us alone. I glanced over to see if the G-Revolutions were even here yet and much to my surprise, they were. But what left me speechless was that Kai Hiwatari had his arm around Kiyoko Arashi. The way she looked up at him with love in her rich violet eyes made me smile. He had the same gentle look whenever he addressed her; so he wasn't always a pain. Off to the side of us the White Tiger X team had made their entrance. I giggled when I noticed that Rin had Ray all to herself; she had won the match between Mariah I supposed. 'It looks like everyone won...Except for Bryan...Now I feel bad.' But, as I looked up at the man at my side I forgot about feeling sorry for him; he'll find the one that he'd kill a thousand for some day.

-Bryan's POV-

I stopped short when I saw Kiko and Tala so open about their feelings for each other; I was filled with jealousy, but I knew in my heart of hearts that it was the right thing to do to let her go. "Uh, Spencer, I'm going to go outside for a smoke, I'll be right back," I muttered to the much taller boy that stood beside me. He nodded and I stalked outside of the stuffy room.

It started to rain outside, but I enjoyed the rain. I wasn't feeling up to smoking so I wandered around the building while I waited for Tala to storm outside yelling for me to come back in. I snickered at the thought and closed my eyes. When I reopened them I had apparently ran into the girl from Heishi, Rika. "Watch where you're-are you okay, Rika?" I knew she was Russian so I didn't bother with the honorifics. She looked up at me with her blood shot eyes. I knelt down beside her and took her cold hands into my gloved ones; her hands were like ice. She fell against my chest and we stayed that way for a while until Tala came out yelling for me to come back in.

"Rika, stay with me...I'll protect you," I whispered into her ear and she nodded. I picked her up and carried her inside. For some reason it felt right to be holding her, to be touching her and talking to her instead of fighting her. Tala allowed her to be with the team and didn't ask any questions about her when we sat down together.

-You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly-

AN: Well, this is the final chapter. I'm sorry for the wait and I hope that it was worth it. Please review me. 


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